Mortgage-lending stats released today by the Reserve Bank show that the Government’s unwillingness to put rules in place for property speculation means investors are snapping up houses at the expense of first-time buyers, the Green Party said today. The Reserve Bank’s figures show that 7,006 new mortgage loans were approved for investors in the month to March, while just 2,044 were approved for first-time home buyers. The amount of money lent to investors to buy property was almost three times...

Low inflation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) hides the way the housing crisis is hitting peoples’ pockets and distorting our economy, the Green Party said today. The CPI showed that inflation was 0.2 percent in the March 2016 quarter and 0.4 percent for the year to March 2016, but housing costs rose 3 percent in the year. MBIE data shows rents across the Auckland region rose on average 5.2 percent in the last 12 months. “Low oil prices mean...

New analysis showing median house prices in Auckland are now 9.22 times the median annual household income confirms that the National Government has failed to fix the Auckland housing crisis, the Green Party said. Figures compiled by the parliamentary library using REINZ March house price data and the most recent income data available from Statistics NZ, show a median house price/income ratio in Auckland of 9.22, up from 8.45 last month. Internationally, a ratio of 3 is considered affordable. “When...

Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith should apologise for producing bogus numbers that do nothing to show that the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill will save the number of lives he’s claimed, the Green Party said today. Yesterday, while being questioned in the House by Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei, the Minister asserted that he had received advice which showed the insulation provisions of his Bill would save 18 lives a year. In fact, the advice shows that those lives...

Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith must explain how many New Zealanders need to die and be admitted to hospital before he will add a life-saving rental housing warrant of fitness to the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill, the Green Party said today. Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei will be questioning Minister Smith today on the true cost of his choice to not include a proper rentals warrant of fitness in the RTA Bill – New Zealanders dying and getting...

Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei will use Question Time today to call on Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith to improve the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill so that Kiwi renters won’t get sick from living in cold, damp, mouldy homes. The Social Services Select Committee has been hearing submissions on the Bill, many of which have called for the Bill to be drastically improved and for a rental housing warrant of fitness to be included. “It’s time for Nick Smith...

Pressure is building on the Government to rewrite its Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill as almost everyone who has submitted on the Bill has called for minimum standards to be set that keep people warm, dry and safe in their homes, the Green Party said today. MPs are hearing submissions on the Bill until the end of the week, and so far many have been in favour of the introduction of a rental housing warrant of fitness, as opposed to the...

The Government must rewrite and strengthen its Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill so that it will actually keep Kiwi children warm, safe and dry in the homes they live in, the Green Party said today. Yesterday, Children’s Commissioner Dr Russell Wills slammed the Bill as a “shameful” broken promise that “will do little to for children living in cold, damp, mouldy houses”. “The aim of the Bill should be to guarantee every New Zealand child a home that will keep them...

The Salvation Army has raised serious doubts about the Government’s much trumpeted achievements for children, revealing that public performance targets are more about making ministers look good, rather than keeping kids safe, the Green Party says. The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report, released this morning, found there was “no way of knowing” whether child abuse was actually falling, despite Government claims that it had reduced. It found CYF (Child, Youth & Family) was “disregarding” some notifications entirely and...

National’s housing policy half-measures aren’t enough to stop the Reserve Bank keeping interest rates on hold, which in turn is holding back small businesses, the Green Party said. “If it wasn’t for the Auckland housing crisis, I’d expect the Reserve Bank to cut the Official Cash Rate to help businesses invest and hire more staff,” Green Party finance spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “With very low inflation, Fonterra cutting its forecast dairy pay-out, and international ratings agencies saying New Zealand’s...