Inflated Property Market Targeted by NZ First

New Zealand First says news that foreign nationals are buying real estate to fast-track their visa applications makes it imperative for measures to be introduced to stop the practice and make housing more affordable for New Zealanders.

Emerging evidence also shows that the Auckland property boom, which is forcing Kiwis out of the market, is being fed by Hong Kong and Chinese investors, and Australian retirement funds buying investment properties.

Rt Hon Winston Peters says new policy is being developed to place restrictions on non-residents/non-citizens entering the New Zealand domestic housing market to fast track their visa applications.

“A lack of Government action has created a situation whereby rich people from big foreign economies are pumping up New Zealand property prices, making them too expensive from many Kiwis to afford.

“This must be stopped so first home buyers can enter a housing market which represents the domestic economy, not that of countries such as China, Hong Kong, and Australia.”

Mr Peters says the Government doesn’t even hold a register of domestic property owned by non-residents/non-citizens.

“That extent of the problem can’t be exactly quantified but it is likely to be huge.

“It isn’t helped by the Government’s failure to have a published long-term immigration strategy.

“This failure is acknowledged in correspondence from Immigration Minister Nathan Guy who also admits that immigration flows are likely to ‘bring challenges of social cohesion’.

“A prime example of a lack of social cohesion is Auckland’s property market which is being inflated by foreign nationals as part of their visa application process,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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Scoop Business: Bathurst Gets Nod For DoC Access To Denniston Mine

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents.

The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would have required public consultation.

The announcement lands in the middle of delicate negotiations between the company, environmental groups and other interested parties that could pave the way to a broader agreement on the Escarpment proposal, whose resource consents are still subject to court appeals. More>>