19 May 2014

You’re wrong John, there is a housing crisis in NZ

The National Government’s housing crisis denial will drive home ownership even further out of reach, fuelled by the Prime Minister’s staggering ignorance of the extent of the problem, the Green Party said today.

“Who does John Key think he is fooling with his claims that there is no housing crisis in New Zealand, when young Kiwis know full well they are locked out of the home ownership dream?” Green Party housing spokesperson Holly Walker said.

John Key claimed on Radio New Zealand today that there was not a housing crisis in New Zealand, that TradeMe was full of affordable homes in Auckland and that cities including London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Singapore had more expensive houses than Auckland.

His claims come as the latest OECD home affordability survey shows that New Zealand has the least affordable rentals in the OECD and the second least affordable home prices.

“John Key’s claims are an insult to young Kiwis hit by the quadruple whammy of the OECD’s second most unaffordable homes, the most unaffordable rents, high LVRs and massive student debt,” Ms Walker said.

“It may be hard for someone like John Key to imagine what life is like for most Kiwis, but sometimes you’ve got to wonder what planet Key is on.

“It’s time to get real. New Zealanders need the Government to fix the housing crisis, but last week’s budget instead slashed funding for state and community housing and offered a tiny discount on building materials to people building new homes as its sole new solution.

“The Green Party actually has some solutions. We’ll introduce a capital gains tax on homes, other than the family home, restrict foreign ownership and build more state homes.

“Our Home for Life programme would put home ownership within reach of tens of thousands of new Zealanders by the Government building new homes, then supporting families to own them.

“And we’ll change the law so tenants have more security, and are entitled to live in a healthy, dry home,” Ms Walker said.

ENDS

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