The Government’s backdown on forcing Housing New Zealand (HNZ) to pay a multimillion-dollar dividend shows that the Government can take measures to help end the housing crisis if it really wants to, the Green Party said today. “Reinvesting HNZ dividends to build more houses just makes sense and I’m pleased the Government is finally showing some flexibility on this,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw. “It was perverse that National was forcing HNZ to pay a dividend back to the...

Paula Bennett and her Government colleagues’ continual denial that there’s a housing crisis is the number one impediment to solving our country’s housing issues, the Green Party said today. Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei will today hold the Minister for Social Housing to account at Question Time for her part in the worsening affordable and social housing emergency. “As long as Paula Bennett, John Key and Bill English keep saying there’s no housing crisis, we’re not going to see enough...

The Green Party today announced a plan to build hundreds of new state homes to help house New Zealanders who are living in cars, garages or on the streets. The Homes Not Cars policy allows Housing New Zealand to retain its dividend and, in addition, would refund its tax, freeing up $207 million in the next financial year to spend on the emergency building of around 450 new state houses. “We have a housing emergency in this country, happening right...

The Government’s new emergency housing fund money does nothing to address the underlying causes of Auckland’s affordable housing crisis, the Green Party said today. Paula Bennett today announced a $41.1 million-dollar emergency housing fund boost to be spent over the next four years. “The Government finding some money to help the outstanding organisations who feed, clothe and help house our homeless is a good step, but it doesn’t address the underlying causes of the Auckland affordable housing crisis or prevent...

Yet another report showing that homeless families are being forced onto the streets or into cars must be the final catalyst for the Government to build the thousands of homes New Zealanders desperately need, the Green Party says. The Citizens Advice Bureau has today released a report showing that the number of homeless people seeking help has doubled under National and that families are being broken up in order to find accommodation for Mum, Dad and the kids. “The National...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to uphold its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child* and increase the supply of state homes in Auckland, to help house the growing number of homeless families in the city. The call comes after the release of a Salvation Army report which revealed that 47 per cent (568) of people who sought help from the Army and Catholic community services were children, some of whom were...

The National Government still has time to extend the bright line test to five years to better curb rampant housing speculation, the Green Party said today. National’s “bright line” rules will apply tomorrow, requiring income tax to be paid on any gains from residential property purchased and sold within two years, with some exceptions.  The exceptions include the sale of an owner’s main home, inherited property, or the transfer of property in a relationship settlement. “National’s moves to clarify the...

Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei is launching her Residential Tenancies (Warm, Safe and Secure Rentals) Amendment Bill today, which will instigate a warrant of fitness for all rental homes, and encourage longer, more secure tenancies. “The million-odd New Zealanders who rent the homes they live in will greatly benefit from this Bill,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei. “Renting is a fact of life for more than a third of all Kiwi households, yet they have so far been largely...