Phil TWYFORD

Housing Spokesperson
 
5 October  2013                   

MEDIA STATEMENT

Will Nick Smith take responsibility for interest rates going up??
 
Housing Minister Nick Smith's concession that interest rates are about to rise is yet more proof the Government's housing policy is in tatters, says Labour's Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.
 
"Low interest rates were the only leg National had to stand on, and now that has been kicked away by their mismanagement of the economy.
 
"National has claimed credit for low interest rates for the last few years, boasting repeatedly it is the centrepiece of their policy on housing affordability. I hope Nick Smith will now take responsibility for interest rates going up and adding thousands of dollars to people's mortgage repayments.
 
"Mortgage lending restrictions have locked thousands of first home buyers out of the market. Auckland houses are now selling for 50 per cent more than their 2011 valuations, and now interest rates are heading north of 8 per cent.  After five years in office, National's housing policy is a shambles.
 
"Low interest rates have masked the true extent of the crisis. Home buyers have had to borrow hundreds of dollars more as Auckland house prices have gone up by a whopping 31.5 per cent since 2008. When interest rates go up, as the Minister has predicted, these homeowners are going to really feel the squeeze.
 
"National's housing policy is in disarray, reduced this week to flogging off broken down old state houses in parts of the country where there is no housing shortage.  The answer to the housing crisis is to elect a Labour Government unafraid to tax speculators and build 100,000 affordable starter homes."
 
ENDS

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