Fixing National’s housing crisis must be a top priority for English and Bennett

Incoming Prime Minister Bill English should make a commitment to all New Zealanders that he will do what John Key refused to – build more affordable homes, close tax loopholes for property speculators, and end homelessness, the Green Party said today.

The median Auckland house now costs $851,944 and the median house price nationwide is now $520,000, a new record high, according to data released today by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

“Bill English needs to make fixing the housing crisis a top priority and he should start by committing his Government to building tens of thousands of affordable homes,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“I think Bill English knows that one of the most effective ways to fix the broken housing market and address property speculation would be a capital gains tax (excluding the family home) – he just hasn’t had the guts to follow through with implementing it.

“A capital gains tax (excluding the family home) is one of several demand-side tools Bill English could and should use, along with addressing negative gearing and stopping overseas investors from buying up houses and residential land.

“Bill English shouldn’t leave the demand-side policies to the Reserve Bank like John Key did, because the Reserve Bank’s loan-to-value ratios haven’t been able to stop the median Auckland house price increasing by more than quarter of a million dollars since they were introduced in late 2013.

“Unfortunately, Bill English and his new deputy Paula Bennett have a history of exacerbating the housing crisis, including engineering a massive sell-off of state houses, rather than taking meaningful action to fix it.

“As Social Housing Minister, Paula Bennett looked like she was making things up as she went along, but now as Deputy Prime Minister I hope she can take a more strategic approach to ending homelessness.

“The Green Party’s Home for Life plan would see thousands of new affordable homes made available to people on lower incomes through a progressive ownership rent-to-buy programme, and thousands more new homes built in partnership with the community housing sector,” Mrs Turei said.

Action

How to get involved - Treaty Principles

Information on how to make a submission, volunteer or run your own event.

Action

Submit for Climate Action

Submit today to ask the Government to commit to strong Climate Change targets.

Action

Treaty Principles - Make a submission

Join our submission. Let's make it clear that we do not support the Treaty Principles bill.

Action

Ditch the Bootcamps - Sign our petition

Sign our petition demanding an end to bootcamps for children.

Action

Build Dunedin Hospital

Take our poll on how the Government should spend its money, and email Christopher Luxon telling him your thoughts.

Action

Oil & Gas Quick Submissions 2024

Sign the quick submission to save the oil & gas ban!

Action

Stop Fast-track Destruction

Join our call to stop the Fast-track Approvals Bill.

Action

Protect te reo Māori

Sign our petition asking Minister Erica Stanford to keep prioritising the teaching of te reo Māori.

Action

Cut the Coal Petition | Join the movement

Fight back: Tell the government that coal mining is not our future.

Action

Protect Our Freshwater

Join our Green MPs in calling for the government to protect freshwater. Proposed changes to the Resource Management Act threaten New Zealand's...

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing Aotearoa. Volu...

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Auckland Issues Announcements

Story

Swarbrick calls on Auckland Mayor to end delay of revival of St James Theatre

Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration.

Waka Kotahi miss the boat on community needs for Waiheke ferry services

Auckland Central Green MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, this morning received a long awaited OIA with official advice and consultants’ reports on whether to re...

A new life for St James Theatre

After years of community organising, Green MP for Auckland Central Chlöe Swarbrick is thrilled to announce today alongside Deputy Prime Minister Ho...

Auckland flood response report requires urgent action

Auckland Central Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick welcomes the findings of the Auckland Flood Response Review and urges Council to not delay implementing t...

Greens launch submission guide for Auckland Council budget

The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council bu...

Greens launch petition to stop Auckland Council climate action cuts

The Green Party has today launched a petition to stop Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposed cuts to climate and environmental programmes that prote...

Story

Let’s build better, warmer, and climate-friendly

The Government must take steps to ensure that the way we build our homes is helping to meet New Zealand’s climate change targets, the Green Party s...

Sustainable buildings and warm dry homes

Everyone has the right to a warm, dry home. Instead, housing in Aotearoa often makes us sick from damp and cold. In Aotearoa, much of our housing s...

National would rather save landlords some cash than look after sick kids: Green Party

The National Party is more concerned about the back pocket of property investors than sick kids and the elderly, Green Party Co-leader Marama David...

Stop charging homeless people for emergency housing

The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop sending homeless people into thousands of dollars of debt with the Ministry of Social Develop...

Green Party: Building code out of date and won’t ensure warm, dry homes

In response to calls for a compulsory energy rating for buildings the Green Party is renewing calls for the building code to take better account of...

Green Party calling for bold steps to tackle issues in Salvation Army report

The Green Party agrees with the Salvation Army that bold new steps are needed to stop a worrying trajectory of increased rent rises and homelessnes...

Story

CPI figures show rents continuing to soar

Stats NZ has confirmed that higher rent prices were the biggest contributor to the annual inflation rate. Almost a fifth of the 2.2 per cent annual...

Landlord govt finds new way to undermine public housing

Proposed cuts to Kāinga Ora reflect a failure to fully commit to fixing the housing crisis.

Rising rents continue to inflict hardship on households

Statistics released today show that rents have increased at 4.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. This comes after last month’s 4.8 p...

Green Party sends open letter to PM on renters’ rights

The Greens have launched an open letter calling on the Prime Minister to respond to the rental crisis.

Renters suffer as soaring rents feed rising inflation

The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent...

Government must build more public houses, not find excuses to sell them

The Green Party says the Government must use the review of Kāinga Ora as a platform to build more homes, not an excuse to sell them off.