Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Housing crisis spreads to provinces

Housing crisis spreads to provinces, middle-class under threat


“The annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey shows the housing crisis has spread to provincial New Zealand and Labour’s policies have failed to improve affordability”, ACT Leader David Seymour says.

“Every housing market in the country now rated ‘severely unaffordable’ meaning that the median house price is at least five times the median household income.

“The median house price is now 7.4 times the median income in Napier-Hastings, indicating that the housing crisis has now spread to the provinces.

“The effect of this is that even well-paid, professional Kiwis are unable to buy homes in the cities where they work. This is a serious threat to productivity, the main driver of our living standards.

“If we want to provide opportunity to the next generation of New Zealanders, we must build enough houses that are connected to education and jobs. On this measure, we are failing miserably.

“Housing affordability is now a serious threat to the middle-class in New Zealand.

“It is positive that dwelling consents are increasing, but the fact we have only just reached 1974 levels shows we still haven’t been able to scale up and build enough housing.

“Housing affordability is driven by governments placing restrictions on the supply of land. Land has been made scarce by regulation that locks up land for development, making supply unresponsive to demand.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“It costs too much and takes too long to build a house. New Zealand is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, but government has driven land prices up, with the result that in that housing has become severely unaffordable.

“ACT would remove large cities from the Resource Management Act, and create separate urban development legislation, prioritising land supply and reducing red tape on developers.

“We would incentivise councils to consent more land for development and build more infrastructure, by sharing a portion of GST levied on construction.

“Finally, we would get councils out of the building standards process, by replacing council building inspections and compliance with a mandatory private insurance regime for buildings.”


ends


© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.