- By Christopher Luxon, Leader of the Opposition and MP for Botany
One of New Zealand’s chronic problems is housing affordability and National has just announced a new Housing for Growth Plan to finally fix the housing crisis.
National’s plan will unlock land for housing inside and around towns and cities, build infrastructure and make sure communities share in the benefits of growth.
Labour has failed on housing.
Rents are up $160 per week since 2017, the social housing waitlist has increased by more than 20,000 applicants, 3500 families live in motels and more than 400 families live in cars.
New Zealand is not short of land, but restrictive planning rules and a broken funding system have driven up the price of land and housing, creating a social and economic disaster.
Too many New Zealanders are never experiencing the thrill of being handed a key to the door of a house they own.
National will fix this. Our plan will require councils to make land available to meet 30 years of housing demand.
Councils will either do this through greenfield development or greater density, or a combination of both. If they don’t do it, the government will do it for them.
In return, we will let councils opt out of the one-size-fits-all approach to intensification – the Medium Density Residential Changes.
Our $1 billion Build-for-Growth fund will mean that for every house delivered above the five-year average in a council area, the council will receive $25,000.
National’s vision is for thriving and productive cities and regions where everyone has a warm and dry place to call home, and there is good quality public transport and efficient and reliable infrastructure.
We have already announced plans to improve the rental market such as bringing back interest deductibility for rental properties and unlocking the potential of Build-to-Rent housing.
A National government will help all New Zealanders get ahead.
We will fix the economy to reduce the cost of living, lift incomes and afford the public services New Zealanders deserve.
