Govt creates McMansions not affordable homes

The Government’s planning announcement offers little hope for first home buyers but developers will be laughing all the way to the bank, said Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“What we are likely to see is row upon row of McMansions. First home buyers and middle income families have been thrown a few crumbs as only up to 10 per cent of the promised 6,000 homes will be in the affordable range. Currently five per cent of new builds are classed as affordable, so this will make little difference.

“Given that Auckland house prices have increased by 13 per cent in the past year, the Government’s affordable homes hype is just a token gesture.

“Property developers will continue to build high-end homes. Why would you build a house for $400,000 when you can build one for $800,000 and double your profit?

“Who will buy these new homes? Eighty per cent of first home buyers say they cannot afford the 20 per cent minimum deposit imposed by the Government’s new home mortgage lending rules. That rules them out.

“On the other hand, according to the ANZ Bank’s latest survey, 92 per cent of property investors say the new lending limits won’t affect them.

“National just doesn’t get it. Opening up greenfields land for property developers to build McMansions won’t give first home buyers and hard working families the break they are looking for.

“National’s planning announcement does nothing to address the underlying factors that make new homes so expensive: excessive profit-taking by land bankers, poor productivity and bespoke building practices in the building industry, lack of competition in the supply of building materials, and a property market over-heated by property speculation.

“Labour’s KiwiBuild policy is a bold and comprehensive approach to the housing crisis. We will build 10,000 affordable homes every year for 10 years. Building at scale will allow factory-built production, and bulk buying of building materials will drive down costs. Using the Crown balance sheet will allow Government to forego the developer’s margin and lower land costs while delivering high quality master-planned mixed income developments,” said Phil Twyford.
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