‘Regeneration’ — the new gentrification
Tags: Housing, Aotearoa, New Zealand

From the 100% housing series: Ten things we should know about the housing crisis

The 100% Housing crew asks Jasmine Taankink, Porirua East community member, and Housing Action Porirua coordinator why we should be wary of housing regeneration projects.

Porirua East

Kia ora Jasmine, you’ve spent most of your life in Porirua East. What do you love most about the place?

Porirua East is a beautiful, diverse community. Through the manaakitanga of mana whenua, Ngāti Toarangatira and the work of mātā waka, Tagata Pasifika, working class Pākehā and more recently whānau from Syria, Myanmar, Columbia among others, strong communities have been built and thrive here. Some families, including my children’s family, have five generations living in Porirua East. Porirua is their home, where their children have been born and raised, and for some it’s where the bones of their tūpuna rest.

Currently home to a mosque, sikh temple, kohanga reo, churches built by the communities that live here, the best library, a’oga amata, Te Akapuanga Kuki Airani hall, Matauala Hall, Maraeroa Marae (ngā hau e whā), Horouta Marae ( Ngāti Porou), to name a few significant places. There’s a place for everyone here.

Sounds amazing! But there’s some issues with housing right?

Yes, Porirua East is also known for its cold damp housing, both state and private which has led to high rates of respiratory issues and at times, the highest rates of rheumatic fever in the world.

Many families live in overcrowded conditions due to the rapidly escalating cost of housing, and houses are not designed for accessibility. One of our elders only has one exit from his home, there are rooms he’s unable to enter and he fears the floor isn’t strong enough to hold his wheelchair.

Wow, but there’s new houses on the way? Surely that’s a good thing?

Yes and no.

In November 2018, Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, with ministers Kelvin Davis (Minister for Māori Crown Relations), Kris Faafoi (MP for Mana) and Phil Twyford (Housing and Urban Development Minister at the time) announced a new housing development at Russell School that was at that point welcomed by the community.

They promised that thousands of state houses would be refurbished making them warmer and drier for the families that live in them, 2000 affordable Kiwibuild houses would be built with the community given priority for these homes, and that the state housing stock would be increased by 150.

On the surface the plan looked great. An increase in warm dry state houses and brand new affordable houses for those who aspire to home ownership.

But there’s more to it?

Definitely. Ministers and the development team have failed to mention publicly that houses for purchase will be built on Crown land that will be sold to developers in mega lots.

Once this land is sold it can never again be used for much needed state housing or returned to iwi and hapū. It’s only through the experience of others in Tāmaki, Pomare, Maraenui, Marfell and other areas, that the community knew that it was not as good as it sounded.

Can you explain more about the process? What’s happened in Tāmaki and other areas?

The term used is “regeneration.” The Government retains around ⅓ of Crown land to rebuild state housing and sells around ⅔ of the land to developers to build housing to be sold.

These developers want a clean slate, they don’t want to build around existing houses so private homes both owner-occupied and tenanted are acquired also, so the land can be used for the development.

In Tāmaki hundreds of people have been evicted from their homes in an ongoing regeneration project which was meant to benefit the community. Farmers Cres in Pomare suffered a 75% loss in state housing and the local school’s roll declined significantly. The plan for Porirua is the same, with 1300 or so houses set to be demolished to make way for the same amount of state houses and 2000 houses to be sold.

That doesn’t sound good — how are people feeling? What are the major concerns?

People are concerned about being displaced, either directly through evictions or indirectly through rapidly escalating housing prices. We don’t know how much weight is given to anything we ask for, we aren’t seeing commitments from Kāinga Ora or our city council who initiated the project.

There’s a desperate need for warm, dry, secure, accessible housing and we just can’t see how this development is going to ensure everyone has that.

Instead of regenerating our housing and environment to make it better for our communities to live in, we are actually seeing something called gentrification. Basically, the improvements are for wealthier homebuyers, instead of the people who already call this place home.

It’s really hurtful to know that our community wasn’t ‘worth investing in’ until our area became profitable to developers and appealing to richer people.

And when this process starts happening, it will push many in our community out. This has happened already to some of us already, in places like Ponsonby in Auckland, where peoples’ parents were slowly priced out.

Gentrification and regeneration causes house prices to increase, it drives rents up, services and schools become more expensive and catered to a wealthier community. Before you know it, the place has changed, and a new community makes it their home instead.

We know our area is beautiful, close to the city and the sea, and with the link road to transmission gully coming in, it’s prime real estate for property developers and an opportunity for first home buyers who can’t afford to live in the heart of Wellington.

But where will our community go? Where are our opportunities when we can no longer afford to live in our own home?

When you say it like that, regeneration sounds really sad and scary.

Yeah. For many of our families, we don’t have another option. And we love our home and community. Yes, it can be improved. But it’s sad that it only feels worth improving to make way for other people to move in.

Are these regeneration projects happening elsewhere?

Absolutely. The projects are a particular ‘style’ of development that the Government is championing right now. Kāinga Ora has multiple regeneration projects on the go, mainly in Auckland, in areas like Māngere and Ōwairaka. They are almost always taking place where lower-paid communities live, and especially Māori, Pacific, and migrant communities. Glen Innes was a model for the style, and the communities there are still feeling the effects to this day.

We hear a lot about ‘consultation.’ Do existing communities have a say in what is happening?

Not really. While developers and councils might hold ‘community engagement’ meetings and ‘consultations’, it often seems like it is more about making the changes seem friendly and acceptable to the existing community than truly listening to us. We have lots of ideas about how to improve our communities, but that’s not really why they are meeting us. At the end of the day, it feels like they have the final say.

The stink thing is that some of our families believe that they will be getting a brand new, beautiful home. But Kāinga Ora have not said that the existing community will be a priority for the houses built for purchase. We are being sold a dream, but there is no guarantee we will have a place in it.

Yeesh. It just sounds like wealthy people freeing up land and homes for other wealthy people.

That’s what it feels like too.

So, where are things at now for Porirua East?

The first lot of state tenants are in the process of being moved to make way for the first stage of the building. It’s concerning because the advisory group for the development has only just been announced. There’s no clear path for advocacy or challenging the process for these tenants. The goal of home ownership seems to be moving further and further out of reach for most, as house values in the area sky rocket, and there are no plans by the Government to change their regeneration model.

How do you feel about all of this? I mean, we’re talking about your community and intergenerational family home.

I started out feeling angry. Angry at HLC (now part of Kāinga Ora) for coming in like some sort of marketing company, not answering any questions properly, going into our schools and getting kids that may end up being pushed out of our community all amped about the project. Finding “community champions” to promote the project without explaining it properly. I still feel that anger, as the plan progresses and they’re yet to announce prices for supposedly affordable houses, or products to assist those on lower incomes, or engage in meaningful consultation. There’s also sadness, at the thought that people I love may be pushed out of our community and that we may loose some of our much needed state housing stock at a time we need it most.

What needs to happen to ensure positive housing outcomes for all?

We do need to push back on the gentrification of our communities and the displacement of our whānau. There’s too much to lose. Once land goes into private hands, it is almost impossible to return it back to iwi and hapū or public housing.

Groups like Tāmaki Housing Group and Housing Action Porirua are doing this work, but it’s not easy when you’re up against massive property developers, and councils who think they are doing the right thing. We need dry, warm, affordable and accessible housing and all our whānau to remain living near their schools, jobs and support systems.

We can’t do this work alone. We need to push the government away from this model of private development which drives up land values and will always leave displacement in its wake. We need campaigns for universal state housing that is fit for purpose. And we need our Government and councils to commit to looking after the incredible people and communities that already exist in our country.

Thank you, Jasmine. Thank you for looking out for your community, and for sharing your thoughts with us today. It sounds like we have an important job ahead of us.

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