In the red corner
Tackling the country’s long-standing housing crisis and ensuring every New Zealander has a warm, dry place to call home is an absolute priority for our Government. There is no single answer, and turning things around will take a concerted effort over many years, but we are making real progress, using pragmatic solutions.
Our Government has overseen a construction boom, with more than 48,000 new homes consented in 2021– the most in a single year. We have also seen a 14% increase in the construction workforce over the past four years, thanks in part to our free trades training and apprenticeships.
We are encouraging investment in new builds, rather than existing stock, through changes to interest deductibility and the income tax bright-line rules. These measures are helping to deliver muchneeded new supply. To get more houses built faster, we are removing the infrastructure and planning barriers that have prevented the construction of new homes. Our $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund is jump-starting housing developments by funding necessary services, like roads and pipes to homes.
New Zealand’s housing shortage has been made worse in our largest cities by limits on the number and types of houses that can be built. That is why we are reforming the Resource Management Act to reduce red tape, boost supply and better protect the environment, and whywe reached across the aisle towork constructively with the National Party to provide stable, enduring policy on urban density.
Our public housing programme is ensuring more families have a healthy place to call home, with more than 8900 extra public homes delivered. We have worked hard to rebuild the public sector’s ability to plan and build new housing following the previous National Government’s hands-off approach and their mass state housing sell-off.
We are tilting the balance towards first home buyers, including through launching a progressive home ownership scheme and banning offshore housing speculators.
We have made renting fairer for example by limiting rent increases to once a year, and we are redesigning the emergency housing system tomake sure it is supporting people in the way they need.
Our Government is focused on delivering real progress, not playing politics. Where building consensus with other parties to deliver enduring policy is possible, we have engaged and will continue to do so. We will not be another
Government of inaction on housing – getting this right is too important.