Housing Policy Summary

Go to the full Housing Policy

Key Principles

• Housing is a social good and a basic right.
• No one should be prevented from establishing a decent home because of low income.
• All people should have secure tenure of appropriate housing.
• Housing developments should optimise land use, reduce car use and be built to sustainable building principles.
• Energy-saving and resource-conserving technologies must be promoted for all buildings.

Specific Policy Points

Providing secure and affordable social housing

• Increase acquisition and building of state housing units by at least 3000 units a year for the next 3 years.
• Maintain an income related rental policy of 25% of income for Housing New Zealand Corporation tenants.

Expanding the third sector

• Provide funding to third sector housing organisations for a minimum of 1000 units a year for the next 3 years, prioritising those with commitment to environmental and social sustainability.
• Remove legal and institutional barriers to the development of co-operative housing, eco-villages, self-built, sweat equity housing, shared ownership, and papakainga housing
  Supported housing for those in need.
• Ensure appropriate housing and support for those living with, and recovering from, mental illness and addictions.
• Support older people and people with physical or intellectual impairments so that they can remain in their own homes, or move into suitable housing .

No one should be left homeless

• Create a legally binding duty on the public sector to ensure housing needs are met.
• Support third sector organisations working for homeless people.

Housing Affordability

• Reduce speculative investment in the housing market by tightening the rules around loss attributing qualifying companies and introducing a capital gains tax on all but the family home.
• Increase peoples ability to save for a deposit and service a mortgage by increasing the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour, with an annual review.
• Introduce a Universal Child Benefit that can be capitalised towards the child's first home.
• Increase provision of low interest financing for low-income households seeking home ownership
• Shift the standard tenancy conditions towards more secure and predictable tenure arrangements.

Rural housing

• Increase funding and support to repair and renovate rural housing.
• Ensure access to basic water, sanitation and cooking requirements, wherever these are lacking

Recognising Te Tiriti o Waitangi

• Ensure that central government works with iwi, hapu and urban Maori on housing issues.
• Support papakainga and local iwi and hapu third sector housing.

Sustainable buildings

• Develop a sustainable building strategy, which sets standards for use of building materials.
• Require, as part of a National Policy Statement on Sustainable Energy, district plans to facilitate the use of solar and/or wind energy.
• Introduce national technical qualifications for administration of the Building Code at local level and require that NZ building inspectors are trained to this standard.
• Ensure that all new buildings conform to sustainable building principles by 2012.
• Support and expand programmes to make existing homes more energy and water efficient.

Building for sustainable transport, healthier communities, and individual well being

• Develop a National Policy statement on housing to streamline consent processes and incorporate sustainability standards.
• Ensure housing development and subdivision provisions of district plans minimise car use and increase ability to use public transport.
• Support mixed-use zones where small business and residential living can both be accommodated.
• Provide matched funding for local authorities that take active measures to support social housing or low income retrofitting programmes.
• Revise the building code so that new houses and building premises are required to be accessible by design unless specifically exempted.
• Work with local authorities to develop urban density guidelines to avoid both sprawl and overcrowding.