Cathy Casey: Communities built on good housing

In so doing, it became the only council in the Auckland region without a stock of housing. Now, it is one of only a handful of local authorities to have opted out of this important civic responsibility.

Local government is the country's largest not-for-profit provider of rental housing after Housing New Zealand. Wellington and Christchurch provide housing for more than 5000 households.

Why does the Auckland City Council want to provide affordable housing? The simple fact is that there is a vast shortage of it in Auckland. "Affordable" means people have access to suitable housing that costs less than 30 per cent of their gross income.

It is estimated that 23,000 (6 per cent) of households in the region are paying more.

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