Reports that Housing New Zealand is about to run out of money, just as it’s supposed to be building new houses to alleviate the housing crisis, is a symptom of National’s economic mismanagement, the Green Party said today. “Bill English has run Housing New Zealand into the ground and now he’s going to have to do an emergency bail-out,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said. “Bill English should have used Housing New Zealand to kick-start a Government-building programme back in...

Labour, the Green Party and the Māori Party are calling on the Government to immediately adopt the 20 recommendations set out in today’s Ending Homelessness in New Zealand report. This morning, the Cross-Party Inquiry into Homelessness has released its final report. Over the last several months the Inquiry has received hundreds of written and oral submissions from around New Zealand, which have been brought together into one report along with a set of 20 recommendations. Notable recommendations include: Rolling out...

Bill English should release the details of the new houses he says will be built by the Government, including how affordable they’ll actually be, the Green Party said today. Finance Minister Bill English has announced that the Government’s building programme in Auckland will increase under the Unitary Plan, after years of insisting the Government shouldn’t be building houses itself. “It looks like National may have finally discovered how to build houses, just in time for the election next year, but...

A new poll shows New Zealanders have grasped the realities of the housing crisis better than the Prime Minister and his Government, the Green Party said today. New data from UMR shows that 85 percent of Aucklanders say there is a housing crisis, and 60 percent of Aucklanders and 55 percent of home-owners nationwide believe house prices should come down. “It’s clear that most New Zealanders know National has let Auckland house prices get out of control and it’s now...

Reports that people in Auckland are looking for driveways to park and live in their cars shows how bad the housing crisis has got, the Green Party said today. “In eight years under National we’ve become a country where for too many people, having a home to call your own is a privilege, not a right,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei. “We’re seeing hardworking people with jobs who can’t afford to rent a home for them and their families....

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...