New report confirms scale of National’s housing crisis
5 September 2017
New report confirms scale of National’s housing crisis
A newly released report by the Auckland Housing Summit reveals the scale of National’s housing crisis, the Green Party said today.
New data from Statistics New Zealand has also confirmed the second consecutive quarter that building activity has fallen, with a 0.4 percent fall in residential house-building across New Zealand.
“This report reads like a laundry list of things National has done wrong or failed to do,” said Green Party building and housing spokesperson Julie Anne Genter.
“The results come through strongly in the report – an increase of homelessness to 23,000 (up 4,000 compared to four years ago), key workers spending more than 50 percent of their net income on housing, and the median house price skyrocketing to $1 million in Auckland.
“Bill English and Amy Adams frequently talk up the house-building achievements of the Government, but the truth is National have only builta net total of 125 state houses since June 2009, relative to the number they’ve demolished and private building is falling way behind.
“The Auckland Housing Summit’s report endorses Green Party solutions to fix the housing crisis at all levels: better security for renters, a housing-first approach to end homelessness, progressive ownership through a rent-to-buy scheme and innovative finance partnerships to build more community housing through housing bonds.
“Our solutions will deliver affordable, decent and healthy housing all across Aotearoa,” said Ms Genter.
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