Sallies back Labour’s plan for affordable homes

The country’s most respected social agency has endorsed Labour’s KiwiBuild plan to build homes that families can afford to buy, and delivered a withering assessment of the National Government’s housing record, says Labour’s housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

 

Speaking on Morning Report, Salvation Army’s senior social analyst, Alan Johnson, said the Salvation Army advocated for a programme like Labour’s KiwiBuild policy to build 100,000 affordable homes for first home buyers.

 

He said the country needs “an ambitious programme of house building such as we saw back in the 1930s and 1940s because that is the scale of the challenge we are facing right now”.

 

He said the Government, “rather than messing around with the transfer of state houses” needs to be “a whole lot more ambitious about the number of affordable houses we can build”.

 

Phil Twyford confirmed the Salvation Army had been influential in Labour’s development of its KiwiBuild policy.

 

“National’s had nine years. The housing crisis is just getting worse. It’s time for Labour’s fresh thinking. Labour will build houses families can afford to buy, crack down on speculators, and help house families in need.

 

“Labour looks forward to working with the Sallies to fix the housing crisis. They deal with the human cost of the National Government’s failed housing policies.

 

“The Sallies are one of the most credible and informed voices in the debate on how to fix the housing crisis, and we welcome their support for KiwiBuild,” says Phil Twyford.