Keegan Jones is going beyond his daytime job with a new rental platform that will provide accessible housing options for people with disabilities who face the brunt of poor housing outcomes in Aotearoa. The website FindMyNest, a short and long-term rental site in the making, was created by Jones after frustrations with the lack of support in the market.
“The current rental marketplace at the moment is really disadvantageous to tangata whaikaha,” says Jones.
“They represent 17% of New Zealand’s population, and only two per cent of New Zealand homes are accessible.”
He says the platform will be available to all users, prompting landlords to enter information about their homes’ accessibility features, giving people the option to search by accessibility features.
“Things like ramp access, step-free entry, wider doorways, accessible bathrooms, wet rooms, grab rails,” explains Jones.
“We are also looking at things like proximity to public transport and support services, because accessibility is not just about the four walls, it’s about whether someone can actually live their life from that address.”
Landlords will also have a chance to earn a verification badge, where a FindMyNest representative will test whether its features are legitimate. Jones admits he has big dreams for the platform.
“We are hoping that we can compete with the likes of Trade Me one day, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Poor housing outcomes for tangata whaikaha
Tangata whaikaha are currently experiencing some of the worst housing outcomes in New Zealand, according to Ronelle Baker, Kaihatū for Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People. He says there isn’t enough housing to meet the need, and that it’s more than just ramps and rails.
“We know that disabled people overall are two times more likely to live in temporary accommodation or without shelter.”
Seventeen per cent of Aotearoa’s population lives with a disability, compared to Māori who come in at 24%.
“If we look at housing deprivation, which has a range of categories including people who are living in temporary accommodation or who are living in uninhabitable housing, for tāngata whaikaha Māori, they are represented more highly in every single category,” says Baker.
A Stats NZ Household Disability Survey made in 2023 showed that 60% of tāngata whaikaha Māori said they lived in a home with cold, damp or mould, compared with 46% of all disabled people and 36% of non-disabled people.
A call for better services
Frankie Tangaere is one of those living with a permanent disability in a Kāinga Ora state house and says it was a long road to receiving one.
“I was in emergency accommodation for three years on my own. I didn’t have much whānau around me, and getting into an accessible home when you’re in a wheelchair with spinal injuries on top of other disabilities was a real hassle for me.”
To be granted a house, Frankie would initially have had to live far from the services she relied on, or consider giving up her support dog. She says her GP, whom she has known for 20 years, fought hard for her, and she had to be vocal about other issues, like having a water leak fixed.
“Tip-toeing around my own whare just for my own safety reasons was highly stressful, but I felt like I couldn’t push it because every time I did, I was told, ‘You were really lucky to have that house, you should be so grateful to have that house,” she explains.
Tangaere believes tāngata whaikaha need to be involved in making housing policies.
“That’s the main reason why there’s a disconnect because you’re not having us at the table so we can discuss that it’s not just about the shelter, it’s about our whakawhanaungatanga, our people and living with our whānau because that’s how we roll as a collective,” she says.
“I think that when we’re dealing with tāngata whaikaha and accessibility, if you can’t enter a home, if you can’t get around in a home, and you can’t live with your whānau, your kaitiaki at home, it isn’t a home. It isn’t a home at all”.
