Housing Issue Will Define This Government

“Another Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has shown what ACT has long said: New Zealand has some of the most unaffordable housing in the world," says ACT Leader David Seymour.

"Out of nine English speaking countries studied, New Zealand Housing Affordability was the second worst. The Aussies beat us to the dubious honour of having the least affordable housing in the English speaking world by only a fraction.

"The Ardern Government was elected to solve the housing problem because National did nothing effective to ensure more homes got built. Bill English even wrote the foreword to the 2013 Demographia Survey, then did nothing about it.

"ACT has consistently pushed for removing New Zealand’s large cities from the Resource Management Act, creating separate urban development legislation, prioritising land supply and reducing red tape on developers. We have also advocated incentivising councils to consent more land for development and build more infrastructure by sharing a portion of GST levied on construction.

"These measures are the only real way to cure poverty given that the poorest 20 per cent of New Zealanders spend 54 per cent of their income on housing. The same group spent only 27 per cent of their income on housing before the RMA was passed. The cost of housing is unacceptably high and is widening the gap between people who own houses and those who don’t.

"The Government's own officials are telling it that the RMA has failed miserably to deliver sufficient housing for New Zealanders, yet there are no measures in the Government's 100 day plan that would increase the supply of housing. It must move swiftly on an issue that will define its time in office," says Mr Seymour.

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