21 May 2015

Govt must guarantee 100% of homes built on Crown land are affordable

Any Government move to free up Crown land for housing in Auckland must come with a guarantee that 100% of the homes built on it will be dedicated affordable housing, the Green Party said today.

“The Government can’t fix the housing crisis in Auckland by freeing up large swathes of land so developers can then build houses that Aucklanders can’t actually afford to buy,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“The bottom line of any new deal to build on Crown land must be that every single house built on it is sold at a price Aucklanders on an average income can afford, not at the market rate, which is astronomically high.

“The New Zealand public owns the land, and any development of it must be in the best interests of the public, not private developers.

“Part of the problem in Auckland now is that property developers have no incentive to build houses to be sold at anything other than market rates – that’s why the Government needs to step in and make it a condition of the land development that they’re not.

“Nick Smith must be completely up front with property developers, and with Aucklanders, and unequivocally state that any land being developed is contingent on all the houses built on it being affordable ¬– no exceptions.

“To guarantee that lower-income families have access to owning these homes, the Government needs to adopt a Progressive Ownership model, which is a policy the Green Party has long advocated for.

“A rent-to-own policy will help thousands of low-income New Zealanders, who currently have no hope of ever owning their own house, to achieve that dream.

“Aucklanders are desperate for the Government to finally do something meaningful on housing – this Budget is their chance. New Zealand cannot afford for them to squander it,” said Mrs Turei.

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