“Labour was elected to fix housing, but a new report shows on its watch it now takes nearly 12 years to save for a house deposit,” says ACT Deputy Leader and Housing spokesperson Brooke van Velden.
“The bi-annual Housing Affordability Report from Core Logic shows it’s harder than ever to buy a home in New Zealand. The gap between homeowners and non-homeowners has never been wider.
“The Report also showed rental costs at record highs. The Government’s tinkering to tilt the market away from landlords and towards first home buyers has only made it harder to save for a deposit.
“One landlord said yesterday he had a rule to never increase rent on tenants while they were in one of his homes because he wanted them to be able to save for a deposit. Some went years without a rent increase. But the Government’s rules meant he could no longer afford that, and he’s had to increase rents even though he didn’t want to, making it harder for them to save.
“We’re becoming two New Zealands: those with parents able to help with a house deposit and those without.
“This Labour Government has presided over the largest increase in inequality in New Zealand history because they are bad at policy.
“We need to make it easier to build houses. ACT has put forward a package that would solve the underlying problems in housing. We need new ways to fund and build infrastructure, new coordination between central and local government, new rules for consenting land, and new ways of accessing building materials.
“ACT has proposed a GST-sharing scheme to fund vital infrastructure, we’d remove barriers to finance build-to-rent schemes, and we’d introduce a Public-Private Partnership Agency – the Nation-Building Agency.
“The fact is we’re simply not building enough. ACT is the only party that offers real solutions to the housing crisis. We’ve listened to New Zealanders.”