New research finds over half of LGBTQI+ flatters experience housing discrimination
New research shows that flatting is a 'site of vulnerability' for queer people, and recommends policy change.
'I was kicked out of a house when coming out as trans to my flatmates and asking they use my preferred name and pronouns.'
'[I was] asked to leave a flat when someone suspected I was 'a faggot.''
'They said they wouldn't be comfortable with a gay couple moving in.'
'An old flatmate's girlfriend was visibly uncomfortable interacting with me… I used to hate it when she came over.'
'My flatmate's boyfriend often made questionable comments about queer people in front of me and she did nothing to stop it'.
These are just a few of the 894 survey responses that housing and health researcher Brodie Fraser from the University of Otago has analysed in an academic paper published this morning. The paper, Flatting amongst LGBTQI+ people in Aotearoa New Zealand, finds that over half of the queer flatter participants experienced housing discrimination. Homeowners experienced it too, though at lower levels. Homophobia and transphobia came from flatmates, landlords, property managers, visitors, real estate agents and neighbours.
Fraser put out the online survey with 45 questions covering demographics, housing quality, household composition, wellbeing, homelessness, involuntary mobility and discrimination as part of their post-doctoral research in 2022. Where their PHD had focused on the LGBTQI+ communities' experiences of homelessness, Fraser now wanted to consider why queer people are over-represented in homeless statistics. Data from the 2023 census shows that in New Zealand, LGBTQI+ people experience homelessness at higher rates than non-LGBTQI+ people. The census also shows that LGBTQI+ people are more likely to be renting, have lower incomes and live in poorer quality housing than their non-LGBTQI+ counterparts. 'Things are pretty bad,' says Fraser. 'What's going on upstream?'
People flat mainly because it's cheaper than renting on their own. In New Zealand and other traditionally home-owning countries, flatting is becoming increasingly common, and the age of flatters is rising. Figures from the 2023 census show that young people are staying at home with family longer, likely due to affordability. However, international research shows that this is often not an option for LGBTQI+ people – family relationship breakdowns, such as parents not accepting queer identities, force people from their homes. This adds another level of precarity, and it's more likely that LGBTQI+ people will find themselves without a home or having to accept substandard conditions – either in the built or social aspects of the home. While flatting, and bad flatting situations, are not unique to LGBTQI+ people, they often have less time, money and options when considering where to live. Where many flatters will have experienced a 'bad' flatmate that leaves dirty dishes or is noisy, this latest research shows LGBTQI+ flatters deal with flatmates who are discriminatory towards their sexual orientation or gender and make them feel unsafe, or even kick them out.
The flatters in Fraser's survey worried about housing discrimination and often moved because of a relationship breakdown within their household. Each time they had to look for a new home, they were opened up to potential discrimination from flatmates, landlords and others. There was a high rate of exposure to homelessness: 37.5% of survey respondents had experienced it. Another recurring theme was that people preferred to live with other queer people to avoid potential homophobia or transphobia. This can involve housing hunting through specific avenues.
Flatting is a kind of 'wild west', says Fraser. It's often seen as being part of a life stage that young people pass through, though data, particularly from the census, shows that it is increasingly becoming a long-term arrangement for adults, due in part to housing unaffordability. Still, legal and policy frameworks are not targeted at flatting. The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 only covers tenants (who have signed onto the lease) and landlords, not flatmates. Only landlord-tenant disputes are heard by the Tenancy Tribunal. There is a house sharing agreement template, but it 'holds no actual weight,' says Fraser. It means that flatting is 'a site of vulnerability, of discrimination, and you don't have any recourse, you don't have any way to protect yourself and you can end up homeless very, very quickly'.
Fraser points to another piece of research, from the UK, on why policy may be missing. It examined parliamentary discussions, particularly around LGBT homelessness, and found that across parties, there's an emphasis on collecting data before action towards policy. The authors argue that the conservative political party can signal progress without risking their conservative supporters. 'Parliamentarians in particular, use lack of data and lack of evidence as a way to say, well, we can't do anything because we don't know anything,' says Fraser. 'It's a way for them to avoid taking responsibility for something that is so clearly an issue.'
The findings of the research published today came as no surprise to Fraser, who is seven years deep into studying the broader topic. But that's not to say it's not important to them. 'It is really affirming to get that down and to be able to publish it in an academic way. That puts weight behind what activists are saying, what the community members are saying. Science has shown that this is what is happening. We're not just making it up. Please listen to us.'
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Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
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It had a circular pond with a fountain in the lower garden and stone steps, pillared by yew trees, leading up to the symmetrical flower and rose beds nestled in the expansive lawn above. A row of flowering cherries ran along the top of the garden in front of white-painted trellis. But all that changed in 1959 when the quarter acre (1000sqm) property was bought by Doug Campbell and his wife Ann. Campbell was a geologist and botanist at the University of Otago and put a lot of the natives and trees into the Opoho property, as well as at his holiday home in Warrington. "He was a passionate collector of rare native plants, but he hated the formality of the English garden," Dodd says. "He did his absolute best to subvert [the formality] without actually removing anything." Many of the remnants of the formal garden are still hidden among the natives, such as the sundial, stone steps and all of the long-lasting trellis. 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New research finds over half of LGBTQI+ flatters experience housing discrimination
New research shows that flatting is a 'site of vulnerability' for queer people, and recommends policy change. 'I was kicked out of a house when coming out as trans to my flatmates and asking they use my preferred name and pronouns.' '[I was] asked to leave a flat when someone suspected I was 'a faggot.'' 'They said they wouldn't be comfortable with a gay couple moving in.' 'An old flatmate's girlfriend was visibly uncomfortable interacting with me… I used to hate it when she came over.' 'My flatmate's boyfriend often made questionable comments about queer people in front of me and she did nothing to stop it'. These are just a few of the 894 survey responses that housing and health researcher Brodie Fraser from the University of Otago has analysed in an academic paper published this morning. The paper, Flatting amongst LGBTQI+ people in Aotearoa New Zealand, finds that over half of the queer flatter participants experienced housing discrimination. Homeowners experienced it too, though at lower levels. Homophobia and transphobia came from flatmates, landlords, property managers, visitors, real estate agents and neighbours. Fraser put out the online survey with 45 questions covering demographics, housing quality, household composition, wellbeing, homelessness, involuntary mobility and discrimination as part of their post-doctoral research in 2022. Where their PHD had focused on the LGBTQI+ communities' experiences of homelessness, Fraser now wanted to consider why queer people are over-represented in homeless statistics. Data from the 2023 census shows that in New Zealand, LGBTQI+ people experience homelessness at higher rates than non-LGBTQI+ people. The census also shows that LGBTQI+ people are more likely to be renting, have lower incomes and live in poorer quality housing than their non-LGBTQI+ counterparts. 'Things are pretty bad,' says Fraser. 'What's going on upstream?' People flat mainly because it's cheaper than renting on their own. In New Zealand and other traditionally home-owning countries, flatting is becoming increasingly common, and the age of flatters is rising. Figures from the 2023 census show that young people are staying at home with family longer, likely due to affordability. However, international research shows that this is often not an option for LGBTQI+ people – family relationship breakdowns, such as parents not accepting queer identities, force people from their homes. This adds another level of precarity, and it's more likely that LGBTQI+ people will find themselves without a home or having to accept substandard conditions – either in the built or social aspects of the home. While flatting, and bad flatting situations, are not unique to LGBTQI+ people, they often have less time, money and options when considering where to live. Where many flatters will have experienced a 'bad' flatmate that leaves dirty dishes or is noisy, this latest research shows LGBTQI+ flatters deal with flatmates who are discriminatory towards their sexual orientation or gender and make them feel unsafe, or even kick them out. The flatters in Fraser's survey worried about housing discrimination and often moved because of a relationship breakdown within their household. Each time they had to look for a new home, they were opened up to potential discrimination from flatmates, landlords and others. There was a high rate of exposure to homelessness: 37.5% of survey respondents had experienced it. Another recurring theme was that people preferred to live with other queer people to avoid potential homophobia or transphobia. This can involve housing hunting through specific avenues. Flatting is a kind of 'wild west', says Fraser. It's often seen as being part of a life stage that young people pass through, though data, particularly from the census, shows that it is increasingly becoming a long-term arrangement for adults, due in part to housing unaffordability. Still, legal and policy frameworks are not targeted at flatting. The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 only covers tenants (who have signed onto the lease) and landlords, not flatmates. Only landlord-tenant disputes are heard by the Tenancy Tribunal. There is a house sharing agreement template, but it 'holds no actual weight,' says Fraser. It means that flatting is 'a site of vulnerability, of discrimination, and you don't have any recourse, you don't have any way to protect yourself and you can end up homeless very, very quickly'. Fraser points to another piece of research, from the UK, on why policy may be missing. It examined parliamentary discussions, particularly around LGBT homelessness, and found that across parties, there's an emphasis on collecting data before action towards policy. The authors argue that the conservative political party can signal progress without risking their conservative supporters. 'Parliamentarians in particular, use lack of data and lack of evidence as a way to say, well, we can't do anything because we don't know anything,' says Fraser. 'It's a way for them to avoid taking responsibility for something that is so clearly an issue.' The findings of the research published today came as no surprise to Fraser, who is seven years deep into studying the broader topic. But that's not to say it's not important to them. 'It is really affirming to get that down and to be able to publish it in an academic way. That puts weight behind what activists are saying, what the community members are saying. Science has shown that this is what is happening. We're not just making it up. 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3 days ago
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Theatre past its heyday, planner says
A planner's recommendation could clear the way for the University of Otago to demolish an award-winning lecture theatre. As part of proposed changes to the district plan, the Dunedin City Council has identified 146 buildings which are protected under the heritage schedule. Following hearings last month, council planner Peter Rawson recommended six of the buildings be removed from the list, including the University of Otago's Archway Lecture Theatre. Mr Rawson accepted the university's view the theatres were no longer fit for education and refurbishment was not possible. The university's evidence indicated scheduling the building would have a high cost and "constrain their ability to operate efficiently and effectively". "Therefore, I consider that the costs of scheduling the Archway Theatres building outweigh the benefits, and it should not be scheduled as a heritage building." Vice-chancellor Grant Robertson said yesterday the university was "highly supportive" of the recommendation, which aligned with its submission to the hearing panel. In his written submission, he asked for the building not to be included on the heritage list, saying the university was considering demolishing the theatres and the neighbouring Gregory Building — possibly replacing them with a formal garden space. Victoria University of Wellington senior architecture lecturer Christine McCarthy opposed the building's demolition, and said the recommendation was extremely sad. "It is such a progressive, innovative and challenging building that embodies the ethos of what a university would hopefully be striving for. "It's a shame that these values don't appear to be appreciated and that the architecture has been only understood superficially and conservatively." The Archway Lecture Theatre building was built in 1974, designed by notable Dunedin architect Ted McCoy, and won a New Zealand Institute of Architects Southern Architecture Award for enduring architecture in 2020. Mr Rawson also recommended proposed protection be dropped for the Lookout Point Fire Station, saying scheduling it could prevent Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) providing a fit-for-purpose fire station. In October, the council granted a certificate of compliance for the demolition of the building and an unattached accommodation block, meaning Fenz had a five-year period in which it could demolish the buildings, regardless of heritage protection. Protecting the building could have the "perverse outcome" of encouraging Fenz to demolish within that period, Mr Rawson said. Council city development manager Anna Johnson said a decision on the heritage plan change was expected to be released next month. "The second hearing will address the remainder of the matters covered by Plan Change 1 and will likely be in August 2025 — a separate decision would be released for this hearing."
