New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900 million on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023.

“This policy will effectively give billions to landlords, while taking away from a much needed tax pool which could be put to use addressing core issues of the housing crisis, such as underinvestment in public homes,” says Vanessa Cole, spokesperson for Public Housing Futures

“The housing crisis will only continue to worsen without addressing the fundamentals. Giving bonuses to those already profiting off the crisis is a bitter pill to swallow for those who want to see things improve, in particular those living in temporary motels and lodges waiting for public housing, and the thousands of renters paying increasingly unaffordable rents for often cold, mouldy homes,” says Cole

Under the National & ACT coalition agreement, landlords will get a massive hand out, but renters will not see this reflected in the amount they pay each week. Rents will continue to rise. National medium rent is up 7.8% on October last year, with Tāmaki Makaurau and Northland rising by 14%.

“Giving tax breaks to landlords is not going to address the failures of the private market to provide genuinely affordable, secure homes. This policy reversal, on top of a proposal to reinstate ‘no cause evictions,’ is giving power to landlords at the expense of the 1.5 million people who rent in Aotearoa.

“If the Government intends to address the housing crisis, rather than fuel the flames of the private market, they need to be focussed on building public housing at scale, not giving handouts to landlords unable to deliver the housing we need,” says Cole.

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