News that social housing providers are having to turn families away to sleep in their cars, as the Government continues to sell-off state houses, shows how disconnected from reality National has become, the Green Party said today.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that when people are homeless, kicking more people out of state homes and selling them off is only going to make the problem worse,” said Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson.
“This is a stark warning from social housing providers today – this winter there will be even more mums, dads, and kids forced to sleep in cars, garages, and on the street.
“Meanwhile, the Government is selling state homes with one hand and buying motels for emergency housing with the other hand. National’s approach to the housing crisis continues to be an utter shambles.
“Again and again, National has misunderstood the size of the problem and refused to take action on the scale that’s needed.
“Auckland is the epicentre of the homelessness crisis, but the problem is nationwide with Housing New Zealand land in the Hutt Valley and Porirua sitting empty for years, and the misguided sell-off of 2500 state homes in Christchurch.
“National’s agenda of selling off state homes needs to stop, but we’ll need to change the Government to make that happen,” Ms Davidson said.