–Ka mate kainga tahi, ka ora kainga rua–
Kia ora friends and comrades,
We’re asking comrade and supporters to demand a rent amnesty, housing for the homeless and a total ban on evictions!
As the COVID-19 emergency has put us into lockdown across Aotearoa, our unsheltered and home-renting population is at risk. Renters are facing evictions and growing debt as they struggle to maintain rent payments, and unsheltered people, who are unable to practise physical distancing, are at great risk of contracting the virus. The government is granting mortgagees a full holiday from payments for the duration of the emergency. For renters, it has enforced a freeze on rent increases and tighter rules against evictions, but this housing plan does not go far enough. More than 80,000 people have called for a rent holiday, but when asked whether the government was considering offering a holiday for renters as well as mortgagees, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said he believed the mortgage relief would trickle down to renters. In other words, the government is placing all the onus on the supposed “goodwill” of landlords.
This is not good enough. We need action from the government to house and offer relief to the people who really need it, so that no one is left behind.
Organise Aotearoa holds that housing is a human right. Emergency or not, homelessness should not exist. Landlording should not exist. But at a time when every other sector of society is cutting losses and as the government is spending billions, it’s beyond ridiculous that landlords are not being asked to make sacrifices as well.
We’re asking you to help us by blasting the inboxes, answering phones, and Twitter and Facebook replies of Cabinet Ministers over the next few days, with demands for a rent amnesty, a total ban on evictions, and immediate housing for the unsheltered. We support the demands platformed on ActionStation below:
- An immediate amnesty from paying rent and a ban on all evictions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Long term rent caps to enable people to recover financially, emotionally from
COVID-19.
- The government to buy unoccupied houses (ghost homes) and buildings on the private market for public housing for homeless people.
- Remove all obligations to pay for the costs of temporary emergency housing, and reinstate this as a non-recoverable grant.
Please see our list of Cabinet Ministers and where you can reach them. If you don’t want to contact all ministers on the list, Dr Megan Woods and Grant Robertson are key people to focus on. We encourage you to share personal stories, especially if you’ve ever been homeless, been evicted, or otherwise had bad experiences with unsympathetic landlords. We also encourage you to add, omit, or alter these demands as you like. We don’t expect you to simply parrot us when you have more that you want to say.
We have commissioned an image from the talented Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho which anyone is welcome to send to MPs, put on social media, or otherwise use or share it for any non-commercial purposes.
Below, we have included a script which you are welcome to use or borrow from while contacting MPs.
Kia ora *,
I’m writing to express my concern for renters and unsheltered people during the COVID-19 emergency.
While it’s great that you have worked to secure holidays for mortgagees, freezes on rent increases, and a more restrictive policy on evictions, much more needs to be done for the most vulnerable in our communities. If renters have to rely entirely on the good will of landlords to be granted rent relief and protection from evictions, thousands of people will inevitably be left behind. This is why more than 80,000 people have called for a rent amnesty.
Every sector of society is making sacrifices right now, and landlords should be no different. People who don’t own property are much less likely to have savings and safety-nets than landlords, and enforcing a rent amnesty and a complete ban on evictions for all people who rent their homes is not an unreasonable action for the government to take in such extraordinary circumstances.
I would also like to ask what the government’s plan is for our unsheltered population. People without homes are at even greater risk of contracting the virus, as they’re unable to properly practise physical distancing. This puts everybody at greater risk.
ActionStation has put together a list of policy ideas which I think are very good, and believe the government should implement. They are:
- An immediate amnesty from paying rent and a ban on all evictions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Long term rent caps to enable people to recover financially, emotionally from
COVID-19.
- The government to buy unoccupied houses (ghost homes) and buildings on the private market for public housing for homeless people.
- Remove all obligations to pay for the costs of temporary emergency housing, and reinstate this as a non-recoverable grant.
These policies could save many lives in both the short and long term, and help us all to get through this crisis together. These policies also provide positive long-term solutions to the housing crisis. I ask you to take leadership on these issues and stand up for our population of unsheltered and non-home owning people.
Ngā mihi,
*
We would love it if you could share with us information about who you’ve contacted, what you’ve said, and any responses you’ve received. Fill in our Google form if you’d like to share details.
With love, thanks and solidarity,
Organise Aotearoa
