Right At Home Community Housing Aotearoa

In this episode, we're joined by James Te Puni (Ngāti Porou), General Manager of Te Āhuru Mōwai. 

James shares what it's like at the helm of New Zealand's largest Māori-owned community housing provider. He has an extensive professional background that includes senior leadership roles in several enterprises, social services, and the cultural and sporting sectors.

James and his whanau are proud and passionate residents of Titahi Bay and Porirua.

You'll learn the following: 

- how to deliver whanau-centered housing service

- why creating community space is important 

- how to implement a holistic framework 

And more. 

In 2016, Cate Kearney became the first employee of the Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust, a social landlord and community housing provider established by Christchurch City Council. The Trust has 50 employees and manages 2,500 homes across Christchurch City and Banks Peninsula. 

Most recently, the Trust has been working with Naylor Love, a construction company, to develop a new typology of housing that is energy efficient, resilient, and beautiful. The first homes in this typology were completed in 2020, and the Trust is already planning to replicate the design in future developments.

In this episode, you will learn the following:
1. How can we build better quality homes that will last longer and be more affordable in the long run?
2. How do community housing providers support tenants with mental health and addiction issues?
3. How can we ensure that everyone can access beautiful, well-designed homes?

Vic Crockford is joined by Rohan Bush, Director of Building Sustainability, Innovation, and Standards at Kāinga Ora.

Rohan is responsible for the standards to which Kāinga Ora order's public housing is built and for adopting more sustainable and innovative building solutions."

As a leader, we want to demonstrate what better looks like. We must ensure that we do that ourselves, communicating, supporting, and collaborating with others."

In this episode, you'll learn:

How Kāinga Ora uses innovation & sustainability for the effective delivery of projects

Why project design is key to building more houses faster

What low carbon construction looks like in practice.

And more.

Resources:

https://kaingaora.govt.nz/

Other episodes you'll enjoy:


Progressive Home Ownership https://open.spotify.com/episode/42lnMTJxbQftP0vrdapRR2?si=309e0cbedc944d72

The Case for Universal Design https://open.spotify.com/episode/6U3mYZQpZ2RgY7XcRY1kAx?si=102533b806924d1b

Inclusionary Housing https://open.spotify.com/episode/0CwO0TgLdlnwIZuEZpt3YH?si=dfb836f0333c4837

The demand for housing has outstripped supply for many years in Aotearoa, New Zealand. While successive governments have attempted to address the housing shortage, it remains a significant challenge.

Overseas and local experience has taught us that opening up land for new supply does not automatically guarantee that affordable homes that meet people’s needs will be built.

In this episode, Vic Crockford is joined by former CEO of Community Housing Aotearoa, Scott Figenshow, and co-founder and managing director of New Ground Capital, Roy Thompson. All three have spent time living and working in Tāhuna/Queenstown. A successful inclusionary housing policy has helped hundreds of people into affordable homes via the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust.

Topics covered:

- how inclusionary housing works

- the impact of the Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms on inclusionary housing

- the developer's perspective on affordable housing

- overseas examples of inclusionary housing schemes.

And more.

Join us on Facebook and LinkedIn to continue the conversation.

Community Housing Aotearoa Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/communityhousing.org.nz

Access to a decent home is a human right. It’s one of the principles in the International Bill of Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the International Bill of Rights of the Child, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Aotearoa is a signatory to all declarations, yet the right to a decent home has not been enacted.

Our approach to housing has underserved one community to the point it could be described as inhumane.

In this episode, Vic Crockford is joined by Wellington-based human rights lawyer, Erin Gough, to talk about accessible housing for the disabled community.

Erin has first-hand experience with the severe lack of accessible housing options. Recently she became a first home owner despite the barriers she encountered.

“I've had a lot of barriers as a wheelchair user accessing suitable housing and feeling at home. The most acute experience meant I had to shower at my workplace for about seven months.” Erin Gough, human rights advocate.

Topics covered:

- the impact of inaccessible housing on mental & physical health

- how universal design can help provide a better standard of home

- how people's fear of disability impacts good housing design

- the impact of seen and unseen disabilities.

And more.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Resources:

Access full episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRgJvfwNyfWWAaJWrVe3HbO_eFKSV5Oc17Fe6PV-Fa4vzoh8XRj6IHWax2GcSPFOw/pub

Erin’s work

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/125303303/lack-of-accessible-housing-left-woman-showering-at-work-for-months

https://www.rnz.co.nz/summer-2020/bodies-and-health/summer-reads/repairing-an-invisible-coat-of-shame/

Community Housing Aotearoa Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/communityhousing.org.nz

For many Kiwis, home ownership is out of reach, with the wealth gap between homeowners and everyone else continually getting bigger.

But all is not lost. In this episode, we talk to two organisations at the forefront of keeping home ownership dreams alive through progressive home ownership models.

The community housing sector has a long history of delivering progressive home ownership and you'll hear from two leaders in the sector, Habitat for Humanity New Zealand’s Alan Thorpe and Julie Scott from Queenstown Lake Community Housing Trust.

We cover:

- the history of progressive home ownership in Aotearoa

- the $400M Progressive Home Ownership Fund

- the benefits to families of working with a community housing provider

And more!