Poll shows Housing policy may be election decider

7 June 2017
Property Institute Poll shows Housing policy may be election decider

Property Institute of New Zealand Chief Executive Ashley Church says a recent Institute poll shows that housing policy could decide the outcome of the election with nearly 40% of undecided voters rating the issue as 'very important' or a vote clincher.

The results of the poll, conducted by Curia Research, have been published in the latest edition of the Property Institute's Property Professional magazine (attached) alongside a snapshot of all the major parties' policy positions on housing.

Mr Church says the results clearly demonstrate why political parties are investing so much time and effort into packaging up their housing policies ahead of the September general election.

"Political Parties are acutely aware that solving the housing crisis is the main battleground on which the election will be fought - and they're all vying to present themselves as having the definitive answer".

Mr Church says that the proportion of voters who have identified housing as the defining issue on which they will cast their vote is unusually high.

"When you strip the results down to those who say they will cast their vote solely on housing policy Labour voters are the most likely to say housing policy will determine their vote (12%), followed by Green voters (10%). 5% of National, 5% of New Zealand First and 5% of undecided voters say housing policy is a deal breaker".

Mr Church notes that the number of undecided voters who identify housing policy as 'very important' is also high - suggesting that there are a large number of voters who can be swayed based on what Parties come out with between now and the Election.

"One in three undecided voters rate housing policy as 'very important', compared to 21% of National supporters, 40% of Labour voters, 39% of New Zealand First voters and 31% of Green supporters.

Mr Church also says that people living in Wellington and Christchurch are most likely to say housing policy will determine their vote (11%), while 18 to 30 year olds feel most strongly about housing at (9%), followed closely by older New Zealanders (8%).

"Overall, nearly one in ten Kiwis (8%) are saying that housing policy will decide their vote.

The importance of housing policy is unlikely to be a surprise for most people, but Mr Church says kiwis should be cautious about accepting the promises being made by Political Parties on face value.

"I'm extremely dubious of any party claiming to have a quick fix for problems that have been decades in the making - and most of what I've seen so far seems to be more about giving the appearance of Government action than actually solving the key issue of housing supply".

Mr Church says, while there have been some worthwhile policy ideas released - particularly by National and Labour - no party has yet proposed a policy that will fix the supply issue.

"Solving the supply shortage requires massive involvement by the private sector - and the policies I've seen to date either don't acknowledge this need, or propose ideas that will actually make the problem worse. Getting people building houses is the Holy Grail solution - and no Party has yet come close to anything which will achieve it".

ENDS

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