Rents will keep going up according to yesterday’s Budget, while Kiwis are finding out they aren’t getting as much as they were promised.

“There will be a lot of people today looking for the $250 they were promised, only to find out the average household is getting a lot less than that while at the same time, rents will keep rocketing up,” Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said.

“The Government promised it would deliver “downward pressure” on rents, but they’ve broken that promise too. Treasury says ‘rents are forecast to continue rising rapidly over the early years of projection’ which it attributes to waning building activity and strong population growth.

“This follows a letter sent to the Government and signed by the four peak bodies representing building and construction firms this week expressing concern about decisions to cancel or defer infrastructure projects, which is leading to a significant slowdown in work, collapse in business confidence and the risk of an exodus of skilled workers.

“The upshot is the Government isn’t building more houses, which ultimately means more pressure on rents, and they’ve removed the First Home Grant which locks more people out of home ownership. That’s despite a $2.9 billion tax break for landlords who don’t need it.

“It’s also going to become less secure to be a tenant, with the Government bringing back no-cause evictions. It’s no wonder people aren’t very excited about yesterday’s Budget,” Chris Hipkins said.

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