PM: Housing Crisis? What Housing crisis?

If John Key truly believes there is no housing crisis in this country, he is completely out of touch with reality and the New Zealand public, Labour Leader David Cunliffe says.

“The OECD has found New Zealand has the most over-priced housing in the Western world. This confirms what Kiwis already know: property speculators and mortgage restrictions are locking them out of the dream of home ownership.

“We have a housing crisis, yet the Prime Minister is in denial.

“John Key also claims there is more demand for houses because the economy is ‘buoyant’ and wages are growing. I’m sure the 46 per cent of Kiwis that didn’t get a pay rise last year will disagree.

“Net migration is expected to tip over 35,000 next year. Those migrants will require almost 13,000 new houses, with 6300 of those in Auckland alone. The Government’s housing accord will build 7176 new homes per year at current rates in Auckland, meaning up to 80 per cent of those homes will be needed to absorb rising immigration.

“Meanwhile, National offered nothing in this year’s Budget to address the housing crisis other than removing tariffs off building materials which accounts for less than 1 per cent of house prices and may well not be passed on to home buyers.

“Labour has the policies and willingness to tackle both the demand and supply side of the housing crisis. A Labour government will reign in rising house prices by clamping down on speculators, taxing capital gain and building 100,000 affordable houses under our KiwiBuild programme,” David Cunliffe says.

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