This report is an evaluation of Housing New Zealand Corporation’s (Housing New Zealand) Options and Advice service (Options and Advice) that was in place from June 2010 until it was linked to the Social Allocation System on 1 July 2011.
The report draws on:
- ·134 interviews with customers of the Options and Advice service accessed in eight Neighbourhood Units (NHUs), and interviews with staff and private rental property managers in five of the eight NHUs
- the Options and Advice Private Rental Sustainability Survey (Quarter 2, 2010/2011).
Purpose
The focus of this evaluation was to identify:
· the extent to which Options and Advice demonstrated it was on a pathway to
achieving agreed outcomes:
- increased customer understanding of tenure options
- increased customer understanding of the housing assistance available
- increased capacity within Housing New Zealand to support applicants to
move to appropriate tenures
- improved cooperation between housing assistance providers
- increased moves to high quality, sustainable tenancies
Key Results
- The transparency of the Options and Advice information session was appreciated by most stakeholders. The information session allowed a number of customers to make effective decisions. Housing New Zealand staff indicated that they were working with community groups, the private rental sector and Work and Income.
- Options and Advice contributed to a reduction of applicants on the Housing New Zealand waiting list.
- The Options and Advice process added stages between applicants’ first approach for assistance, and when they were confirmed on the waiting list. The two stages were a formal triage process and an information session. At each stage in the process some applicants dropped out.
- Housing New Zealand has undertaken to assist those most in need for the duration of their need. The evaluation identified a concern among staff that Options and Advice customers sometimes leave the information session without their housing need being identified. Consequently, staff thought they were unable to support some applicants to articulate their options and address their need.
- The success of Options and Advice placements in the private rental sector varied. Some housing markets were well priced and had a good supply of houses. Private property managers in these locations tended to work well with the Housing New Zealand. Even in these areas, the number of participants who took up offers of housing from partner private property managers was very low.
- In contrast, some private rental markets were highly priced and had a poor supply of houses. These high demand markets were associated with stigmatisation and discrimination against Housing New Zealand applicants. There were greater numbers of lower quartile house hunters than there were lower quartile houses in these markets. Property managers in these locations tended to work less closely with Housing New Zealand.
Overall
The evaluation indicated that Options and Advice was an appropriate intervention, particularly for applicants without high needs. The Options and Advice fulfilled its objective to work with customers to understand their housing need and tailor solutions to some extent.