Simon Bridges - Leader of the Opposition

9 December 2019

The average Kiwi renter is paying an additional $2800 a year in rent as a result of this Government’s poor policy making decisions, Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges says.

“New figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) show that the median monthly rent is up $55 a week under this Government.

“A three bedroom house in Auckland is $66 more expensive. Today’s figures show it is $686 a week, compared with $620 when the Government came in.

“Families are doing it tough under this Government. New and increased petrol taxes have increased the cost of filling up the family car, decisions like the oil and gas ban will flow through to higher electricity bills and there is no sign of tax relief after the Government cancelled tax cuts that would have benefited the average earner by $1060 a year.

“The Government has failed on housing. KiwiBuild has been a flop and extra regulations on landlords are being passed onto tenants in higher rents and discouraging the supply of rentals.

“The Government claims it wants to be kind but its bad policies are having consequences that are hurting the very people they are trying to help.

“National will release its Housing Discussion Document next week with our positive plans for building more houses and keeping rents affordable.”

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