September 10, 2021
Housing groups lose funding tool
The Monte Cecilia Housing Trust is warning a change in government policy from next month means an end to an important source of transitional housing.
Bernie Smith says the government is scrapping the “redirect contracts” which allowed organisations like Monte Cecilia to find private landlords willing to lease their house for a year.
They then arranged for tenants to pay 25 percent of their income as rent, with the government covering the rest.
Mr Smith says having that tool available was a major reason for Monte Cecilia being able to help more than four and a half thousand children and their families in the past year alone.
He says of the 316 adults and 737 children it now has placed with such redirect contracts, 55 percent of these families are Pasifika and 30 percent are Māori. It’s frustrating to see the government moving ahead with this decision when Covid makes it so important for families to shelter safely in their homes.