National pumps up house prices with HomeStart bribe

National's latest bribe will only drive up house prices and shows neither major party even wants to fix the housing crisis, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

"It's an admission of National's failure to fix the fundamentals of our housing crisis. Instead of getting homes built, they're trying to soothe home buyers' pain with a bribe.

"Only a few months of flat price growth has scared National into propping up investors' capital gains with taxpayer money. This election bribe won't see a single new house built.

"It's not even a good bribe. The extra funds will go straight to sellers. Home buyers won't be any better off as sellers know they can ramp up their prices by another $10,000.

"How can National look out for the taxpayer when their own hand is deep in the bribe jar? They've been suckered by Labour's strategy of responding to every problem with more taxpayer spending. Centre-right voters who want something to believe in now only have ACT.

"With more MPs, ACT can address the fundamental cause of our housing crisis: decades of under-building caused by overly restrictive planning laws, a failure to fund infrastructure, and bureaucratic building consent rules.

"And we'll scrap the absurd policy of pumping taxpayer money into an overheated housing market."

ENDS

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