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Housing crisis affecting more than 98 per cent of NZ

Andrew Little


Leader of the Opposition

MEDIA STATEMENT

14 July 2016

Housing crisis affecting more than 98 per cent of NZ


Labour’s new housing map shows the housing crisis is now affecting more than 98 per cent of New Zealand, Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little says.

“Housing pressures have seen house prices rise faster than wages in all but four areas of the country: the Grey District, Masterton, Westland and Wairoa. These four areas make up 1.25 per cent of our population.

“The housing crisis is making life tougher for most New Zealanders. Skyrocketing house prices are locking a generation out of the Kiwi dream of homeownership and pushing rents up so high, families are being forced to live in cars and garages.

“Labour’s interactive housing map – being launched today at http://www.labour.org.nz/housingmap – shows anyone how the housing crisis is affecting their neighbourhood. Information includes: rises in house prices, changes in homeownership rates, rent increases and the length of state housing waiting lists.

“The map highlights how dramatically National’s housing crisis is exacerbating inequality. The highest homeownership rate in the country is in Waimakariri at 80 per cent, compared to just 39 per cent in the Waitemata.

“Unsurprisingly the highest average house price – a staggering $1.4 million – is found in Auckland’s eastern suburbs. In comparison in Kawerau it is $131,000.

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“The shortage of houses in Auckland is now affecting other areas. In South West Hamilton house prices rose 29.8 per cent in the past year – the fastest in New Zealand. The fastest rent increases were in the Bay of Plenty where they rose 9.5 per cent in the year to March.

“Behind all these figures are families who are paying more and more for a roof over their heads, leaving less and less for food and other essentials for themselves and their kids.

“Only Labour has a comprehensive plan to address the housing crisis. We will build 100,000 affordable homes, crack down on offshore speculators and provide the social and emergency housing our country so badly needs,” Andrew Little says.

Data used in Labour’s housing map:

House prices: Quotable Value. QV provides monthly updates on house prices by council area and, for the main centres, by groups of suburbs.

Homeownership rates/proportions of renters: Statistics New Zealand Census Data. This data is broken down into census ‘area units’, which are roughly equivalent to an urban suburb or rural community – the names usually refer to the names of local communities or prominent locations.

Rents: MBIE regional level data is used to match with the income data, which is only released at regional level.

Incomes: Statistics New Zealand, New Zealand Income Survey. Data is released each year at regional level.

Heating: Statistics New Zealand Census Data. Data at council level used to match with the state house data.

State houses: Housing New Zealand. Waiting lists and vacant houses by council level are released quarterly.


ends

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