Presentation made to the AGM of Community Housing Aotearoa in November 2010.

1. CHA AGM 2011
2010 – a watershed year?
PLUS Aug-Sept 2010
July-Aug 2010
CHA Govt-appointed
Right to Housing
Maori Housing Housing
- Human Rights
recommendations Shareholders’
Commission
Advisory Group
… and whatever the Minister said earlier today!

2. • Current levels of commitment to social housing
Right to Housing - “fall well short of international standards”
Human Rights
Commission • Calls for an increase in the supply and
diversity of social housing provision -
“including through partnerships between
central and local government and civil society ”
• Said the ability of third parties to supply social
Ministerial
Housing Advisory
housing has been limited as a consequence of
Group current policy settings. Many countries are
grappling with similar issues but NZ has failed, as
yet, to adopt or vigorously pursue some of the
pathway strategies observed offshore.
• A vision that is worth reading in full, and that
includes: A future in which all providers of social
housing play to their natural strengths,
concentrating on core activities that they do best.

3. Housing issues on the move?:
CHA’s critical engagement… + survey
• Housing is a primary determinant of health and
well-being – it is indivisible from other rights
July-Aug 2010
• Too often the right to housing is interpreted in a
Right to Housing narrow or restrictive sense + some of the
- Human Rights ‘language sets’ applied to housing can be a
Commission
concern
• State Housing = Public Housing, whereas
CH = missing piece of housing jigsaw
• Elements of: Accessibility / Affordability /
Habitability / Location plus Types of Tenure /
Costs of Services / Cultural Adequacy
• Need for further investigation by HRC
3

4. Housing issues on the move?:
CHA’s critical engagement… + survey
• Not enough done to examine innovative
Aug-Sept 2010 approaches to social (non-market) housing
Govt-appointed • Missed opportunity to expand on ‘social landlord’
Housing
aspects versus ‘public sector landlord’
Shareholders’
Advisory Group • Little regard for the existence of a nascent Maori
housing ‘sector’ as one of several ‘niches’
• Agreement that organisational arrangements,
behaviour and priorities need to change and full
support for a strengthened provider base for
servicing the ‘social sector’ of housing
4

5. What now?
Feedback from CHA members and
from CHA’s 20 page submission
was picked up on (as released 19 October)
On Labour Weekend (24 October) an
additional report was released:
Implications of Stakeholder
Feedback
• It placed an emphasis on
developing “credible, private
sector providers of scale” (page 5)
• The ability of NGOs to contribute
across the whole housing
spectrum was recognised (page 6)
• The timeframe for NGOs/
community organisations to gain
scale is given as 5 to 10 years

6. What now?
The key passage for CHA…
A solid foundation of skills and
preparedness is there to be
developed given:
• the right policy environment
• an intention to develop, not
frustrate and fragment, third-
party providers
• Innovative schemes to strengthen
the financial resources (Profit and
Loss, and balance sheet) of
“approved” organisations.
• Building the sector’s capabilities
and balance sheet remains a key
recommendation.
• THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL …

7. The big picture…
PRIVATE
PUBLIC
Community
Social housing

10. Now is the time to build on strategic planning (Sept. 2010)… with solid
starting points…
A NEW working vision being finalised:
Arriving at a ‘shared high level aspiration’ e.g.
CHA’s vision/ is:
… to extend and strengthen housing
options designed to meet the needs of
every person and every community in
Aotearoa New Zealand
(compares well to earlier emphasis on broader choice & strength)

11. Now is the time to build on strategic planning (Sept. 2010)… with solid
starting points…
A NEW working mission being finalised:
CHA’s mission is:
… to grow the community housing sector by
demonstrating and reinforcing the ability of
community-oriented housing organisations to
collectively contribute to ambitious growth
targets for the provision of recognised and
diverse housing options that have proven
advantages over existing models; together
operating as an enterprising, viable and socially
motivated segment of the overall housing sector in
Aotearoa New Zealand.

12. What we want to build & promote
with you…
One solid
foundation
+ many rooms with
many doors

13. Now is the time to get the foundation or ‘platform principles’ right…
Constructive critic & Carrying forward well-
conscience known kaupapa
Continuity & Connecting
consistency capacity/ capabilities
Credible Creating
conduit clarity
Advocacy needs Substance
… and the right ATTITUDE
from the ground up

14. Now is the time to build on strategic planning (Sept. 2010)…
The policy ground is shifting in
what could be a highly promising
way. Sound/ visible ‘joined up’
leadership is vital for CHA
members to play a role in future
opportunities.
Getting to the ‘top table’ is
happening but it’s happening
slowly; time is ticking!! There are
actions we can take and are
taking in anticipation of CHANGE.

15. What might happen if we don’t build on strategic planning…
Hidden weaknesses/ traps?:
• risk of trying to be something
we’re not – all things to all people
• risk of continually going
round and round in repetitive
circles
• the proposition of what
Community Housing has to offer
is too ‘hard to grasp’ – need to
keep it simple and tap into existing
resources (members, research etc)

16. What might happen if we don’t build on strategic planning…
Untapped strengths?:
• operating horizontally
across many issues and
sub-sectors (esp. social
services) & within NGO
sector for good alignments
and relationships
• no other ‘peak body’ is
seeking to have an open
national voice - be that aimed
at public opinion or at public
policy

17. CHA AGM 2011
Hatching a campaign!

18. What can CHA do with & for you,
that you can’t do alone (at a national level)?

19. One Campaign vs many Workstreams
Planning so far has identified a number of
workstreams, some of which double as deliverables
for satisfying our HNZC contract.There are several
emerging themes or strands:
• Maori housing / Pacific capacity
• Our neighbourhood, our community
• Community development through
community ownership
• Delivering secure homes/ tenure
• (Expanded) Warm Up NZ
• Auckland strategy
• TLA partnerships
PLUS … multiple message streams…

20. 2011 is an election year with some of the
myriad opportunities that will pose…
SO what do we prioritise??? What comes
first… the chicken or the egg??
…the awareness or the advocacy??
... one overarching campaign or many??

21. Election year 2008…

30. STEP ONE – designing our position
Work in progress – Grow CHOs
An ‘overarching’ poster design
– to be used for awareness and identity
raising – positioning ‘community housing’
in a creative light
Work in progress – Many Doors
An advocacy campaign poster –
designed to be flexible enough to
carry a series of easy to grasp
messages

31. STEP ONE – designing our position
Work in progress – Grow CHOs
An ‘overarching’ poster design
– to be used for awareness and identity
raising – positioning ‘community housing’
in a creative light

33. Benefits of
community
housing
Pre-requisites
for community
housing

35. Draft
Room for sponsors :)

36. STEP ONE – designing our position
Work in progress – Many Doors
An advocacy campaign poster –
designed to be flexible enough to
carry a series of easy to grasp
messages – a changeable
platform

45. Let’s make Wellington the city where
no-one is left out in the cold

46. Houses for people begin with people for Houses

47. Building secure new lives depends on providing
doorways to safe and secure homes

48. Where will you live when you’re older?
Looking for options starts now

49. Houses without community are empty places
they are the people – he tangata, he tangata, he tangata

50. STEP TWO – creating momentum
Work in progress - Doorways
An eight page quarterly publication –
working title of DOORWAYS – first one in
December, with ‘themed issues’ in 2011
Work in progress – LAUNCH!
HOUSING AWARENESS WEEK
2011 – in discussion with possible
‘partners’

52. 1 2 3 8
Welcome Opening Brief Back
columns items Page –
x2 (3 cols) Human
interest
4 5 6 7
Centre Centre Two Two
spread – spread – showcase showcase
sector sector stories/ stories/
overview overview cases in cases in
point point

53. HOUSING AWARENESS
WEEK 2011 ?
March 21 to March 27
Media potential etc.
• CHA conference –
Auckland (Tues-Weds)
2011 • Coalition to End
Homelessness Forum –
Yes or No? Auckland (Thurs)
• Lifewise –
NEIGHBOURS DAY
(weekend of 26-27 March)
+ others, local potential etc.

54. Awareness Participation Engagement Celebration
December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011

55. What can CHA do with & for you, that you
can’t do alone (at a national level)?
#1 CHA can be your CHAmpion!
… in an ongoing ‘campaigning for the sector’ sense
CHA’s Council & staff have started planning ways CHA can within our
limited resources be actively doing more to …
INCREASE Communication & co-ordination*
IDENTIFY Hot housing issues &“how and when” to respond*
INCREASE Advocacy & awareness/ education*
<* WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE!>

56. www.communityhousing.org.nz