The Green Party welcomes the Labour Party’s plan to continue delivering more public houses whilst ensuring more New Zealanders have a chance of owning a home.
Green Party Co-leader and Housing spokesperson Marama Davidson said today:
“The Green Party will work in a productive partnership with Labour to ensure more New Zealanders have a warm, dry, safe home.
“Our Homes for All Plan seeks to end the public housing waiting list in five years, and expand our progressive home-ownership scheme so more New Zealanders have a chance at owning a home.
“We are pleased to see Labour agreeing that it’s time to regulate property managers, to bring the wild west of renting into line, and their commitments to energy efficient homes.
“With Labour picking up many similar housing policies to the Greens’ Homes for All Plan, this is clearly an area we can work together on in the next Government.
“I would like to see a clearer focus on the community housing sector though, such as the Green Party’s proposed Crown underwrite for building affordable, non-profit or community owned rental homes. The community housing sector, including iwi and hapū housing providers, knows how to build affordable rentals and the next government needs to support them to do that. Labour’s Residential Development Response Fund needs to deliver for community providers, not just the private sector.
“We’ll push to accelerate these plans to keep pace with the needs in the community. The current plan that Labour wants to keep progressing is good, but we need to go further, faster.
“At the decision making table, we’ll also push to diversify how people live in or own a home. This includes supporting affordable long-term rentals by community and iwi providers, and an integrated, Māori-led community response to homelessness.”
The Green Party Homes for All Plan would:
- Expand the Kāinga Ora Crown building programme to deliver enough new affordable rental properties to clear the public housing waiting list in five years, and expand progressive home ownership options like rent-to-own.
- End homelessness by building on support programmes that already work.
- Put communities at the heart of development, by fixing funding and regulatory barriers to papakāinga housing and making co-housing easier for first home buyers.
- Create a fairer deal for people who rent by: increasing the supply of affordable rentals using a Crown underwrite; reviewing financial assistance for renters; improving the Healthy Homes Standards into a WOF for rental homes; and fairer rules for landlords, property managers, and student accommodation.
- Plan for thriving, green neighbourhoods with inclusive housing outcomes.
- Improve the quality of housing, by overhauling the building code and expanding subsidies for energy efficiency retrofitting.
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