Phil Twyford
Housing spokesperson

28 February 2014

Plummeting consents show holes in housing

The Government’s housing policy is riddled with holes with new housing consents plummeting, down by a seasonally adjusted eight per cent, says Labour's Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“In Auckland, where the supply crisis is most acute, the situation is even worse with consents down 38 per cent.

“We all know the biggest reason that house prices are out of control is lack of supply. We have to get affordable houses built. The Government should be greasing the wheel but it keeps putting up road blocks.

“These figures cast doubt on the Government’s claims that it has cranked up new home building.

“This follows first home buyers being locked out of the housing market by LVR lending restrictions.

“With interest rates set to rise soon, it’s going to be even harder to become a homeowner. National’s legacy is a generation of renters.

“Labour is the party of first home buyers. We will exempt first home buyers and regions with stable house prices from the LVR lending limits. We will ramp up our KiwiBuild programme to build 10,000 affordable starter homes a year, and implement a Capital Gains Tax to clamp down on speculators,” Phil Twyford says.

“This Government is all talk, no action on housing,” says Phil Twyford.

ENDS

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