Time to attack Ghost House Landlords
‘Worrying’ rise in empty homes in Auckland highlighted in Census 2018
The number of empty properties in Auckland has risen by a “worrying” 18 per cent in five years.
In 2013, 33,360 private dwellings in the city were unoccupied. But by 2018 that figure had increased by 6000 to 39,393, data from the latest census showed.
Between the previous two censuses in 2006 and 2013 there was only a 0.1 per cent rise in vacant homes in Auckland.
Suburbs on the North Shore and in south Auckland saw the largest increase in the proportion of vacant homes between 2013 and 2018.
When you stop seeing houses as homes to live in and see them instead as assets to make tax free capital gains off, this sort of despicable thing starts happening.
Property speculators who buys houses for those gains rather than rent them out to the desperate who need shelter.
It’s easier to ensure the asset grows in value if you don’t have to rent it out. This in turn creates the desperation and exacerbates the housing crisis.
It’s time for a progressive Government to tax any ghost house. If we can identify a ghost house, they should be penalised, I don’t care how it’s done, as long as it’s bloody punitive.
“But my property rights” blah blah blah. I don’t give two shits, housing is a necessity, if the market is so damaged that buying a house and not renting it out is more worthwhile than renting it out, then add penalties to that market to change that dynamic!
This is so outrageous and is such a huge part of the problem it should be dealt with immediately. Unfortunately this Government are so gutless when it comes to anything genuinely progressive there’s little chance they will do anything.
Spot on there Martyn. It’s criminal plain and simple and should be treated as such
Much easier than introducing new taxes (which doesn’t do anything to address the housing shortage BTW) is to legally allow “squatters” to break into houses that have been empty for say 6 months and become the legal tenant of the property. This has worked wonders to motivate landlords in most countries that have or even just threaten this rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting
Council could easily publish a list of vacant homes to both shame speculators and help squatters find homes.
Hear hear
Don’t tax them, put the homeless in them rent free.
It would solve everyone’s problems.
if the government thought before they acted they would not pass bills that made it so hard to be a landlord and get ride of bad tenants. Houses should be fit for purpose but not all houses can be palaces and you need some cheap to rent homes.
Don’t worry Phil Goff is going to invite them around for tea and a chat and ask them nicely.
It’s not that simple. There are many reasons houses are vacant. Private property is just that. We are not a communist state.
In fact Auckland needs to allow squatters into empty houses as it was in London in the 70s.
In fact Auckland needs to allow squatters into empty houses as it was in London in the 70s.