9 May 2016

Affordable-housing crisis will lead to more Aucklanders sleeping rough

The Government’s new emergency housing fund money does nothing to address the underlying causes of Auckland’s affordable housing crisis, the Green Party said today.

Paula Bennett today announced a $41.1 million-dollar emergency housing fund boost to be spent over the next four years.

“The Government finding some money to help the outstanding organisations who feed, clothe and help house our homeless is a good step, but it doesn’t address the underlying causes of the Auckland affordable housing crisis or prevent more people becoming homeless,” said Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson.

“There’s a housing crisis in Auckland, and it’s the people who have the least that are affected by it the most.

“What that looks like is more people sleeping rough in downtown Auckland, more people begging for money on Queen Street and more people sleeping in cars and garages.

“If National really cared about affordable housing solutions, it would remove the tax incentives for investors to buy up properties, including in so-called ‘cheap’ areas, and it would use its purse to build more state and affordable housing.

“Instead of doing something meaningful to address the affordable housing crisis in Auckland, the Government keeps offering up piecemeal ‘solutions’ – today’s announcement from Paula Bennett is another example of that.

“For many, many Aucklanders, the possibility of ever being able to buying their own house is a complete pipe dream.

“They’re worried about being able to pay their rent and feed their kids, and they live with the constant fear of getting kicked out onto the streets.

“Becoming homeless is a very real threat for many thousands of Aucklanders, and the Government’s housing policies do very little to address that threat,” said Ms Davidson.

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