Papakainga Housing Research Group

Tu Tangata, Issue 28, 1 February 1986, Page 34

Papakainga Housing Research Group

The relationship between the land and Maori people is well known. So it wasn’t much of a surprise to see that a Papakainga Housing Research group was set up to remedy substandard rural housing.

And it’s also a well known fact that the East Coast and North Auckland are two of the worst hit areas for housing problems.

So that’s why Paul White and Tawa Paenga have been seconded to the Housing Corporation staff. Tawa is dealing with the East Coast and Paul is handling Tai Tokerau. But despite the low profile the research group is getting from the media, Paul has been really busy keeping up with the inquiries from keen observers.

Background

The Papakainga Housing Research group came about after the second of a series of seminars by a recommendation by Judge McHugh. The group was set up to consider alternatives to partitioning Maori land and to find ways of obtaining mortgage finance without the need to use the land as security.

The papakainga concept is not a new one. But what is new is that something

is being done about making moving ‘home’ easier for those who have left, and indeed, for those who have been resident in their hometown.

But papakainga doesn't necessarily have to be based around the marae, but can be located right throughout rural communities. The main emphasis is getting people to occupy the vast areas of land that was once occupied by our tupuna.

Papakainga housing schemes will be small in scale. Generally they will be small groups of houses or individual homes. Typically they will consist mainly of dwellings with associated buildings for community activities.

How it will work

Because individual title is required by lending organisations as loan securiity, tribal land had to be partitioned to be eligible for mortgage finance. But legal difficulties and expenses incurred made it impossible for many Maori families.

Under the Scheme a special contract would be drawn up, involving the borrower, the Housing Corporation and trustees of the multiple owned land.

The trustees would give the applicant a licence to occupy a piece of the tribal land, defined by a simple survey.

The applicant would then arrange a corporation loan and family benefit capitalisation in the normal way. and under the usual eligibility criteria.

The property would have to be fully insured and properly maintained.

In addition, the house must be capable of removal, as this would be the ultimate sanction against default, if all other methods failed. The removeable house would be the security on the loan.

No special advantages

The Ministers of Housing and Maori Affairs, Mr Phil Goff and Mr Koro Wetere stressed that the scheme offered no special advantages to Maori families. It simply removed a longstanding disadvantage which had prevented rural maori families from improving their housing situation.

Mr Goff: “The pilot scheme was a self-help scheme designed to enable more Maori families in the rural areas to achieve home ownership.

Work is proceeding on a scheme to advance loan finance to trusts and incorporations who would then build and administer housing to be rented by low income families. Mr Goff said that this would keep costs to a minimum. This way, the families will be able to assist in the building of the homes and the development of the sections.