Why do we have a housing programme restricted to public servants?
This is incredible. There are so many families in NZ struggling with housing, and we have a housing programme restricted to Wellington public servants earning up to $95,000 a year. 1,000 apartments have been put aside.
If you are a nurse working in a DHB, you can get an apartment, but a nurse working in a medical centre can’t.
If you do the accounts for a small government agency you can get an apartment, but if you do it for a charity, you can’t.
Wages in the public sector are 24% higher than the private sector, and we have a scheme reserved for public servants earning up to $95,000.
Could you imagine the outrage if this was the other way around. Think if the Government and Council funded a housing programme which was reserved for private sector staff only, and public servants were banned from accessing it?
Housing programmes should be based on need, not on if your employer is public or private sector.
I’m informed that this initiative was originally designed to help low to medium income workers who work in Wellington, live in Wellington. It was intended for baristas, hairdressers etc. There was no restrictions on it being for public sector only.
Then a Labour City Councillor got involved and insisted it be restricted to public sector staff only. And finally after years of pushing, they got their way and it mutated from a scheme to help all low and medium workers to only helping public sector staff earning up to $95,000 (or $150,000 for a couple).
But it gets even worse than that. The takeup for the scheme has been relatively low, because it is restricted to the public sector only, so the Council has declared there is now too much affordable housing, and has reneged on an initiative with a developer who signed up, and said developer is threatening to sue.
So rather than do what is eminently sensible and restore the scheme to its original purpose, and remove the ban on private sector low and medium income workers, the Council is saying that the lack of uptake shows, that there is too much affordable housing in Wellington!!!