1 September 2008

Housing a critical election issue - Greens

The Green Party says the housing crisis evident to many ordinary New Zealanders is not being treated seriously enough by either National or Labour.

Housing Spokesperson Sue Bradford launches the Green Party's housing policy at a public meeting in Otahuhu, South Auckland tonight.

"The Green Party strongly believes that neither Labour nor National go far enough in addressing the urgency and immediacy of the current housing crisis affecting many ordinary New Zealanders," Sue Bradford says.

"The foundation of the Greens' national housing strategy is that no one remains homeless or in inadequate or substandard housing.

Key Green Party policies include:

* The rate of building and acquiring state houses through Housing New Zealand Corporation should be lifted to a minimum 3000 houses a year for the next 3 years.

* Funding for community and iwi based housing should be massively increased to allow for a minimum 1000 houses per year to be built in this sector for the next 3 years.

* Legislative, regulatory and financial barriers which make it difficult for Maori to build on communally owned land should be lifted to the maximum extent practicable.

* Managing investor demand in the private sector by introducing a capital gains tax on all but the family home and tightening the rules around Loss Attributing Qualifying Companies and equivalent methods of achieving tax deductions.

* Creating a legal duty on the public sector to ensure housing needs of those most in need are met.

* The introduction of a Universal Child Benefit that can be capitalised towards a deposit for a family home.

* Government commitment to sustainable building strategies across all sectors, including in design, construction and materials; accelerate support for rainwater tanks, retrofits, solar heating, grey water recycling and local wastewater systems.

ENDS

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