“Young people facing more debt and higher rents will be asking the Prime Minister: Where’s the kindness?,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Generation Debt will spend decades paying back the $140 billion Labour has borrowed. That figure represents $28,000 for every New Zealander. In 2034, we’ll be spending more on the interest than on education.

“Now Labour’s new tenancy law will reduce the number of rentals and increase rents for Generation Rent.

“The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has told the Government that the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill could reduce the number of rentals available and increase rents, demand for state housing, and homelessness.

The Bill will have its second reading in Parliament this week.

“The number of New Zealanders waiting for a state house sits at a record 18,000. Rents continue to increase. Our country still faces a housing crisis.

“Rather than doing what it was elected to do and solving the housing crisis, Labour is adding new costs and red tape and making the situation worse.

“In opposition, Labour talked a big game about cutting red tape, freeing up land and bringing down the cost of housing. But all we’ve seen is new regulation and bureaucracy on the housing market.

“New red tape will increase the cost and risk of being a landlord and those costs will be passed on to tenants in the form of higher rents.

“It’s taken Labour three years to produce a report on the Resource Management Act which won’t be acted on until at least after the election.

“ACT believes real kindness would be replacing the RMA, freeing up land, making it easier to build houses, and bringing rents down. Only then will Generation Rent and Generation Debt be able to afford a stake in the future.

“After three years of Labour making life harder for young New Zealanders, they should be asking Jacinda Ardern: Where’s the kindness?”

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