Auckland relocation grant to end
Monday, 18 December 2017, 4:33 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Government
Auckland relocation grant to end
The Auckland
relocation grant will be stopped after increasing state
house waiting lists in other towns and cities showed it was
just moving housing pressure to other parts of New Zealand,
Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford
announced today.
“Since the Relocation from Auckland
Assistance was introduced in June 2016, there has been an
across-the-board increase in the demand for public and
private housing, especially in regions and towns close to
Auckland.
“This initiative was just shifting the
housing problem. It no longer makes sense to support
families move to areas where demand is already high,” Mr
Twyford said.
From 15 January next year no new
applications for the grant will be taken by the Ministry of
Social Development.
“This initiative was a rushed
and piecemeal response by the former government to the
growing number of homeless in Auckland. National had failed
to fund this grant beyond the end of this year and so
instead of seeking new funding, the Government has decided
to discontinue the grant.
“The Coalition Government
has a broad housing reform agenda which will increase the
public housing stock throughout New Zealand. We will build
thousands of new state houses and increase emergency and
transitional housing.
“These policies, along with
our KiwiBuild initiative to build 100,000 affordable homes
in 10 years, will help take the pressure off the state
housing waiting list,” Mr Twyford says.
The Ministry
of Social Development will continue to provide assistance to
people facing barriers to moving to the private rental
market, or who need to move town for family reasons or work
opportunities.
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