Phil Twyford
MP for Te Atatū
Housing Spokesperson

MEDIA STATEMENT

17 November 2016

Dodgy figures don’t hide foreign buyer problem

National needs to stop fiddling with the statistics and give an honest account of the number of New Zealand homes being bought by foreign speculators, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“National’s figures exclude large number of foreign buyers to try to mislead Kiwis into thinking overseas speculation is a smaller problem than it really is. It’s time they faced the facts and banned the foreign speculators who are using Kiwi homes like gambling chips.

“Last time, National’s cooked-up foreign buyer numbers were laughed off the stage because they excluded foreign investors in New Zealand on temporary work and study visas. Including those people, 13% of houses were sold to foreign buyers.

“Now, to hide their embarrassment, they are saying the number of foreign buyers on temporary visas shouldn’t be used and have omitted it from the main data.

“National should stop mucking around with the stats. The public want full and transparent figures showing the number of non-resident non-citizens who are buying houses here.

“By a country mile, the majority of Kiwis support Labour’s policy of banning non-resident, non-citizens from buying existing homes.

“National should swallow their pride and accept that this is the right policy and would make a significant in stabilising the over-heated housing market,” says Mr Twyford.

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