Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (Trust Variation) Bill

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s a real pleasure to take a call on the Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (Trust Variation) Bill this evening, and can I begin by acknowledging my colleague the Hon Dr Megan Woods, who has championed this bill through the House on behalf of the trust as a private bill. These bills are a bit unusual, although I think in the last couple of terms of Parliament, we’ve been having a few more of these bills.

I just wanted to acknowledge the excellent local member of Parliament who has driven this bill through the House, and it should receive its final reading tonight so that it can take effect. It was very nice to see the Hon Dr Megan Woods as the member in the chair tonight, and I’m looking forward to seeing her in the chair a little bit more, passing more legislation after the election.

Just on to the bill, we are supporting this bill, which I’m sure is no surprise to many. What this particular bill does is it allows the trust to operate outside its current areas of operation, which are in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. It looks at operating further so it can deliver more housing for more people.

I do just want to put a shout-out to community housing providers across New Zealand. They play an important role in providing social housing and community housing to people who are vulnerable. In my own area, we have a couple of locally owned community housing providers. One is the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust, and they do an excellent job. On top of the provision of social housing from the State agency Kāinga Ora, our community housing providers play an important role in ensuring that there’s extra housing that meets the needs of the local community.

What this bill will do is it will enable what is a high-performing community housing provider to respond to housing needs across the South Island while it still retains its primary role of supporting people in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. The trust exists to bridge the affordability gap that is left by the private market, because, unfortunately, renters—particularly those with low incomes who are left to the private market—often end up paying quite an exorbitant amount of their low incomes towards rent, and so what housing providers like the Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust do is ensure there is appropriate and affordable housing provision for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

What this bill does is it delivers a housing system that stabilises people and strengthens communities, and it will be able to do that more broadly outside of its current areas. It will be able to operate in other parts of the South Island. Now, it could be good for other parts of the South Island, which would be excellent.

Just a little bit of background information on the trust: it was established in 2016 by Christchurch City Council to manage its community housing portfolio, and that included not just managing the existing portfolio but developing new social housing. It’s the largest provider of community and affordable housing in the South Island, and so what this bill does is it allows it to actually broaden its operation.

I’ll just make a couple of comments around the work that the Social Services and Community Committee did. The bill as it was introduced would have allowed the trustees a broad discretion over how assets are distributed in the event of a wind-up, without any express requirement to align distribution with where those assets were developed. The committee—and I think this is a fair consideration of the committee—wanted to see greater protection for proportional distribution and formalise the intent to prioritise local organisations.

It recommended inserting clause 25.3, which requires the board, when transferring the asset trusts, to “have regard to the principle that, [where] reasonably practicable, … Assets [are] transferred to … organisations who can apply [them] for the benefit of people living in the geographical area in which those assets were generated, acquired, developed, or (in the case of physical buildings) situated.” It also recommended inserting clause 25.4 to reflect the current wording in the deed that “If the Board … is unable to make decisions … in accordance with [clause 25], the Trust Assets must be disposed of in accordance with the directions of the High Court under section 27 of the Charitable Trusts Act”.

These clauses that are being inserted are really important. It’s important that the intent of the development of the trust is honoured if there were to be a wind-up in future and that there is some proportionality in terms of where those assets were actually developed in those geographical areas, so that it doesn’t become a situation where, if there was a wind-up, that asset distribution could go to places that hadn’t contributed in a strong way to the actual development of the trust and its assets.

We all know in this House how important it is that people are housed, that they’re housed well, that it’s affordable, that they get security of tenure, that they have homes that are warm and dry, and that they are able to improve their health and their overall wellbeing outcomes. That’s why we, in the Labour Party, are always so supportive of any mechanism that can help to ensure greater delivery of social and affordable housing. I congratulate the member again on taking this bill through the House, and I know that it will pass tonight, and this will enable this excellent community housing trust to continue its good work in the community. For that reason, I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This bill will enable the excellent model of Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust to expand beyond its current boundaries. Therefore, I commend the bill to the House.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a third time.

ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Maureen Pugh): I declare the House in committee for consideration of the Trust Horizon (Trust Variation) Bill.

Trust Horizon (Trust Variation) Bill

Committee of the whole House

Preamble

CHAIRPERSON (Barbara Kuriger): Members, the House is in committee on the Trust Horizon (Trust Variation) Bill. We come first to the preamble. This is the debate on the preamble to the bill. The question is that the preamble stand part.