12 October 2016

Will Bill English’s houses cost a million dollars each?

Bill English owes it to prospective first-home buyers to name a price for the houses the Government is proposing to build and sell in Auckland, the Green Party said today.

“Aucklanders need to be able to trust the Government to build houses they can afford, but so far National hasn’t delivered on anything they’ve promised,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.

“If the Government’s plan to fix the housing affordability crisis is to build houses that will sell at market prices, then it’s just setting up first-home buyers for more disappointment.

“New townhouses in Glen Innes and Tāmaki, where this model of redevelopment has been used before, have sold for $1.3 million. That’s not affordable for most Aucklanders and won’t do a thing to help people get into their first homes.

“Special Housing Areas, which the Government has spent several years touting as its big solution to the housing crisis, have delivered landbanking, houses priced well out of the reach of the average household, and failed apartment projects.

“If the Government won’t make most, if not all, of the houses they’re proposing to build affordable relative to people’s incomes, then we’re going to just get more of the same.

“The Government also hasn’t explained what will happen to the people who already live in the homes they want to redevelop.

“State house redevelopments like in Tāmaki have created community outrage, expensive houses, and violent clashes with the police.

“This looks like more rushed policy-making from a Government that has lost control of the housing crisis and is scrambling for things to do,” said Mrs Turei.

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