Phil Heatley MP National Party Housing Spokesman

21 May 2008

Labour's shared equity pilot complete fizzer

Housing Minister Maryan Street's trumpeting of Labour's shared equity housing scheme falls to pieces under close examination, says National's Housing spokesman, Phil Heatley.

Labour will announce a $35 million shared equity pilot in tomorrow's Budget, and Maryan Street used Nelson, the electorate she's a candidate for, as an example of a city that would be 'very pleased'.

"Well, 19 people might be - because that is the number of people her policy will help in Nelson under Labour's population formula. That's 19 people over two years.

"However, there will have to be a massive property price crash in order for there being a rush to take part in this harebrained scheme because it only allows homes under $240,000 to be eligible. Unfortunately for the Minister, Nelson has very few of these available - the average house price in Nelson is $100,000 more than that.

"Even if one of those 19 people could find a suitable house for $240,000, they would still have to find 90% of the price.

"This shared equity scheme has now been rehashed 12 times.

"The resulting pilot has been completely over-promised, and utterly under-delivers."

ENDS

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