National must listen to Builders Federation

National must take heed of the Master Builders’ Federation’s warning that LVRs will jeopardise the construction of 5,000 new homes, say Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker and Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“One of the two key drivers of Auckland’s rampant house price inflation is the shortage of affordable homes. Put simply, we need to build more homes. But LVRs are putting that in jeopardy and hitting first home buyers with a double-whammy,” says Phil Twyford.

“Not only have LVRs shut first home buyers out of the market they are preventing new homes being built which is critical to slow down house price inflation and allow first home buyers to get a foot in the door,” says Phil Twyford.

“Increasing the supply of housing must be the priority. Anything that restricts new housing must be addressed,” says David Parker.

“LVRs are lowering the interest in new homes because potential buyers are concerned that a cost blow-out will leave them out of funds as the bank can’t top up their mortgage.

“This is obviously an unintended consequence of LVRs. Bill English must call in the Reserve Bank Governor to discuss an exemption for new builds from LVRs.

“That’s what Labour would do.

“Labour is the party of first home buyers. The home ownership dream can be kept alive by clamping down on speculators through a capital gains tax on investment properties and through Labour’s KiwiBuild programme to build 10,000 affordable starter homes a year,” says David Parker.

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