April 28, 2023
Kainga Ora falls short on housing disabled
A Māori disability advocate says Kainga Ora is failing her community.
Huhana Hickey says the state housing provider is more worried about the bottom line than helping disabled people live their lives with dignity.
Kainga Ora claims 10 percent of new-build state homes are accessible for disabled people – short of its goal of 15 percent – but Dr Hickey says the overall figure for all state housing stock is just 3 percent is accessible.
“Kainga ora got rid of the one person with a little bit of experience on the Board. They got rid of the one tenant that understands the community on the board and they just went back to their old status quo – and that’s how they’re operating,” Dr Hickey says.
She says until Kainga Ora makes 100 percent of all new-builds disabled-accessible it will always struggle to house those with disabilities.