This is just disgraceful, so many people are desperate for housing that National’s band-aid of offering motel stays has blown out...
The number of families needing Government’s new emergency housing grant has blown out, showing National is out of touch on the scale of the housing crisis, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little.
“Bill English and Paula Bennett clearly have no idea how many Kiwis are being affected by the housing crisis.
“They expected 1,400 homeless families to need grants to pay for a week’s accommodation in a motel. In the first three months, MSD issued nearly 9,000 grants covering 2,600 families. They expected the cost to be $2m a year; it was $8m in three months.
“It’s an indictment on Bill English, who sold so many state houses, that huge numbers of families now being put up in motels because there’s no real housing for them. This is New Zealand – we shouldn’t be forcing any families to live in motels.
…hilariously, Bill English, fresh from blaming Gaia and the environment for the Housing Crisis, has said that this blow out is happening because of ‘complex’ cases…
The Prime Minister told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking on Monday very complex cases were being flushed out, including people who have been blacklisted in the private sector, who have often been evicted from the state sector and have criminal records including drug offending and family violence.
…hold the fucking phone Prime Minister, the decision to throw Tenants out onto the street for 12 months without any help from Housing NZ because of deeply flawed P tests in state houses IS YOUR POLICY!
How can the PM excuse a surge in desperate homeless people when it’s his fucking policies that are creating the homeless people?
Cutting tens of thousands off welfare, putting homeless people in illegal shelters, trying to make the homeless pay for expensive short term motels, refusing point blank to do a damned thing about the foreign speculation, domestic speculation and floodgate opened immigration policy that is generating unstable demand – this is what has helped create the property bubble and Housing Crisis we now find ourselves in.
National need to look like they are doing something about the Housing Crisis without actually fixing it because they are dependent on paper millionaire middle class property speculators to keep voting for them and because National desperately need to keep the false economic growth numbers looking good.
Until we acknowledge that National have no political interest in solving the Housing Crisis, the sooner we can focus on Changing the Government.
Yes Martyn they have no political will to fix anything that doesn’t make a buck for them and there mates
Spot on Martyn . All we have to do now is convert Hosking et al.
Martyn – National want the housing crisis!!
It is all about land scarcity apparently, (straight from right wing US discourse ‘The Heritage foundation’ aka right wing fascist lobby group ) which after populating that viewpoint, then leads to blaming the environment and excessive regulation.
Soon we are told that it’s housing or the environment. Bill English is now on 2.0 of the US based strategy to destroy environmental regulation in this country and social law by now blaming the environment for the housing crisis.
Takes me back to the good old 1990’s leaky buildings under Shipley!
The housing crisis has little to do with “paper millionaire middle class property speculators” – if you mean everyone owning a house in Auckland, it’s government policy through and through.
You are falling into the Natz trap of pitting voters against each other. They want the you versus them argument to scare voters from voting left.
They want
Boomers vs Millennials
Renters vs Homeowners
Rich vs middle class vs working poor vs beneficiaries
True revolution such as Ghandi/independence, Slavery, Women’s rights, Mandela/apartheid occurs for social reasons. It occurs because it is the moral thing to do.
Change agents do not achieve it through pitting groups against each other but by unifying people with a united message not us against them.
So what would Labour do?
they wont have to do much to do better than the gnats as they have done nothing Andrew
Labour won’t sell the state houses off and pay millions in ‘consultation fees’ to their cronies.
And maybe Labour might help the housing crisis by actually renting out the empty state houses.
Probably not suck the country dry.
What would “you” do Andrew?
Fuckin national are unreal 9 fuckin years in government these. Fuckers. Should run out of office straight awAy given the lies and denial they have done
It’s a shame Labour hasn’t got a decent state housing policy. Nor do they offer any relief for renters who are living without a voice. They remain a party for landlords (so long as they hold a Kiwi passport).
” renters who are living without a voice”
Further evidence of National’s failures.
Yes, National are abhorrent!
Build more affordable houses
Create an Affordable Housing Authority to fast-track development in our cities
Labour will establish an Affordable Housing Authority to work with the private sector to cut through red tape and get new homes built fast. It will partner with private developers, councils and iwi to undertake major greenfields and revitalisation projects, building affordable homes with KiwiBuild and the private market. These homes will be part of great communities built around parks, shopping centres and transport links.
Read more about our plans for the Affordable Housing Authority here >>
Build 100,000 affordable homes across the country
Labour’s KiwiBuild programme will build 100,000 high quality, affordable homes over 10 years, with 50% of them in Auckland. Standalone houses in Auckland will cost $500,000 to $600,000, with apartments and townhouses under $500,000. Outside Auckland, houses will range from $300,000 to $500,000.
Read more about KiwiBuild here >>
Growing the building workforce
Increased house-building will require a larger workforce. Labour’s Dole for Apprenticeships policy will subsidise employers to take on around 4,000 young people for on the job training in fields including building and construction. Labour’s policy of three years free post-school education will see tens of thousands more people study in all fields, including building and construction. KiwiBuild is projected to create 5,000 new jobs at its peak.
Remove barriers that are stopping Auckland growing up and out
Labour will remove the Auckland urban growth boundary and free up density controls. This will give Auckland more options to grow, as well as stopping landbankers profiteering and holding up development. New developments, both in Auckland and the rest of New Zealand, will be funded through innovative infrastructure bonds.
Crack down on speculators
Ban foreign speculators from buying existing homes
Labour will ban non-resident foreign buyers from buying existing New Zealand homes. This will remove from the market foreign speculators who are pushing prices out of reach of first home buyers.
Tax property speculators who flick houses within five years
Labour will extend the bright line test from the current two years to five years. This will target speculators who buy houses with the aim of making a quick capital gain. Current exemptions from the bright line test will continue.
Consult on rules around negative gearing to prevent abuse by speculators
Negative gearing can be used by speculators to make taxpayers subsidise losses on their properties. This is effectively a subsidy for speculation. Labour will consult on ways to close this loophole.share on twitter
Read more about our plan to address housing demand here >>
Support for those in need
Focus Housing New Zealand on helping people, not making a profit
Labour will make Housing New Zealand into a public service rather than an SOE, and will substantially increase the number of state houses. Unlike the current government, Labour will not milk state housing for a dividend, and will end its programme of state house sales.
Read more about our plans for Housing New Zealand here >>
Help 5,100 more Kiwis into emergency housing every year
Labour will take serious action to end homelessness by increasing funding for emergency housing, helping an extra 5,100 people a year. This money will be given to emergency housing providers to purchase or build new accommodation and help people get off the streets.
Read more about our Emergency Housing package here >>
Require all rental homes to be warm, dry, and healthy.
Andrew Little’s Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill is currently before Parliament. It will set standards that will require all rental properties to meet proper standards in: insulation, heating, ventilation, draught stopping, and drainage. This will ensure people who live in them don’t get sick.
Yeah, I’ve read Labour’s policies before, hence my critique of them.
There’re pretty good for the middle class, but useless for the people Martyn is talking about on this post.
Some relief might trickle down to the working class and even the homeless, but that’s more of a lite-blue strategy. I’d like to see Labour return to their roots.
I don’t get why they don’t address Kiwi landlords as well they’re getting their second, third etc mortgage paid off by those of us in perpetual poverty. Most speculators will be more than happy to wait 5 years to cash in their unearned and untaxed wealth.
IMO we really need to think outside of the kiwi dream model. Look at Germany’s solutions. Don’t worry so much about home ownership rates – they are actually part of our problem. We should make housing investment unattractive and promote policies which make renting for life more secure.
These are my concerns on Labour’s housing policy. I’m still going to vote labour or Greens because they are the over all better party, but I think their housing policy is ideological and not practical and will not solve anything without other measures being put in place.
problem is so are the Natz (and all the other parties) or so they say! How?? Will taxpayers have to subsidise these and how? What is affordable $500,000? $600,000? Are these really affordable on minimum wages?
Again sounds like the Natz. They have been saying the same types of things for years!!! How can you fast track development without stampeding on other’s rights for example? Without infrastructure and transport in place. God knows who long it will take to get rail going, 5 years, 10 years? Whose paying for it all? And why should those who have already paid, have to pay again and again.
This also sounds the same as National policy and using corporate welfare to fund the venture.
I think the state should build the state houses, the state should run the state houses – and the state should get the benefits from them.
We have 70,000 new migrants coming in per year, plus 180,000 work permits for students and temporary workers. So Labour’s policy is not even covering incoming migration, AND we still don’t know whose paying for the infrastructure and the transport and how long they will take. The new migrants will also be eligible for the affordable houses. My guess is middle NZ is expected to pay for it! And 10 years – where is everyone going to live until then – Natz homeless hotels??
Firstly minimum waged can’t afford that – also like the Natz, Labour will find that it is very hard to build houses at those prices under present conditions of using private developers, iwi, who want a profit etc
Newsflash this is the same as National policy and US right wing think tank policy. Also the landbankers are the Natz friends who have successfully lobbied for the urban zoning to be removed so they can cash in their holdings. They cashed in and made even more money. But still no houses. Why because zoning changes have little to do with creating housing. They can do the opposite as everyone becomes concerned about all the new houses and oversupply and don’t want to build.
They should be encouraging 1st home owners themselves to build as they are not speculators and wanting the house for themselves.
Also sound sounds like something National would do – the devil will be in the detail!
sounds like foreign investors are still ok to speculate on the new homes or get the corporate welfare hand outs to developers on new builds.
National does it within two years and has anyone been caught yet? Seems to rely on an honesty system and more loopholes than Keys tax havens.
OMG! Twitter to the rescue! Why don’t you just try solving NZ problems via talkback!
FINALLY A REAL POINT OF DIFFERENCE FROM THE NATZ.
OH no, back to Natz policy again. Passing the buck to housing providers!! Take control! Also many people are homeless due to low wages and jobs seem to be going… less and less jobs… how can we support all these people who are going to become homeless or need affordable housing…
Sound fuzzy but not practical! A few energy efficient light bulbs took out veteran Helen Clark! Beware!!
90% on NZ houses failed the WOF because villas and post war houses don’t meet this arbitrary standard. So essentially under the rules there are going to be fewer houses for renters to live as houses that for generations housed Kiwis, such as me, my parents and my parents parents lived in and raised families in, are now deemed unsafe or require thousands in repairs which will probably turn into a renovation and into a sale and take that house out of the rental market!
I don’t mind the insulation part – but the rest of it will turn into a nightmare to try to take a house that was build in a different era into some arbitrary new build standard. This will increase rent prices, lower the amount of rentals in the market and scare landlords, it will probably leave many state houses empty as they will also not meet the standard due to their age.
I’m not sure many over the age of 30, is going to be keen on that one and only about 30% of voters under 30 actually vote!
I know Labour just want to do the right thing with this bill, but it’s got out of control – they should have stopped at making sure rentals were insulated for renters and upgraded the standard over time as newer houses were built and there was less of a housing crisis. In the old days ventilation was opening a window!
In short labour are worrying about 5 star new build standards while people are queuing to find an affordable rental or are actually homeless! It’s a bit too Marie Antoinette!
So, do we then just continue to accept Nationals failed policies on housing or at least give Labour a try because clearly National have no idea.
They should be buying the bloody motels.
why not build some bloody houses
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