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30 more houses won’t fix NZ housing crisis
30 more houses won’t fix NZ housing crisis
The Government’s plan to provide deferred loans for 30 parcels of lands will not address New Zealand’s affordable housing crisis, said the Green Party today.
“This programme, while not a bad idea, will do little if anything to address the shortfall of 70,000 houses that was identified in the Government taskforce’s housing report, said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
The Government today announced the Gateway Housing Assistance programme that will allow purchasers to build or buy a property but defer payment on the land. They have identified 30 parcels of Crown or Housing New Zealand land that will be available for purchasing.
The recent Government taskforce Home and Housed report found that there is a shortage of 70,000 houses in New Zealand, and that 8,500- to 20,000 New Zealand households have extreme housing issues.
“It is positive that the Government will be working with community housing organisations on this programme, but it is concerning to see that HNZ land will be sold under this scheme,” said Mrs Turei.
“There are over 10,000 families on the state house waiting list. State houses need to be built on HNZ land to ensure that the most vulnerable people in New Zealand have access to affordable housing. This is not the time to be selling off HNZ land into private hands.”
Before the 2010 Budget the Green Party released its alternative Mind the Gap package which proposed investment of $2 billion in 6000 new state houses over the next three years. This would create approximately 28,000 jobs. It also proposed investment of $200 million in community housing to build 500 homes and create around 3,500 jobs.
“This is about choice - the Government has allocated $10 billion for motorways; some of this money would be better used in housing,” said Mrs Turei.
John Key's Government has cut money for upgrading and acquiring state houses from $120 million dollars to $18 million dollars in this year's Budget.
“Housing deprivation drives inequality and the evidence shows that inequality is bad for everyone. It is only fair that all New Zealanders have access to affordable housing, ” said Mrs Turei.
For more information:
Mind the gap - Green New Deal initiatives to combat growing inequality in New Zealand - http://www.greens.org.nz/mindthegap
Home and Housed: A Vision for Social Housing in New Zealand report http://www.dbh.govt.nz/vision-for-social-housing-nz
ENDS
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