Phil Twyford
MP for Te Atatū
Housing Spokesperson

MEDIA STATEMENT

17 October 2017

MBIE docs show country needs KiwiBuild, not Key's pretend "building boom"

John Key’s spin that New Zealand is in a building boom does not change the massive shortfall in building construction as new MBIE papers reveal, says Labour Party housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“We can fix the housing crisis, by the government building 100,000 affordable homes for Kiwis to buy and by cracking down on speculators. But Mr Key seems to think just pretending there’s a building boom is enough.

“All year, National has claimed there is a ‘record building boom’, yet official figures show a different story. 2016 isn’t even in the top five years for number of homes consented nationwide.

“In Auckland, the number of houses being built is barely half what is needed to keep up with population growth. MBIE figures show Auckland needed 17,000 news houses in the past year to keep up with demand but fewer than 9,000 were built.

“MBIE figures state that when National came to office, there was no housing shortage in Auckland but there is now a cumulative shortfall of 34,000 houses. This shortage is projected to keep growing until 2018 and persist beyond 2030.

“For all National’s tinkering and half-baked policies, they simply aren’t building enough bloody houses. After three years, the Special Housing Areas in Auckland have produced a pathetic total of 18 affordable homes.

“It’s time for a visionary solution to the housing crisis. It’s time for National to take off the blinkers and adopt Labour’s KiwiBuild policy. Not the sell-off of Housing New Zealand assets announced by Bill English last week but a government-led programme to build 100,000 affordable homes and sell them to first homebuyers.

“The MBIE figures make it clear: if we continue on National’s path, a generation will be locked out of homeownership for life. To save the Kiwi dream of homeownership, Labour’s bold housing plan is needed,” says Mr Twyford.

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