Phil Heatley MP
National Party Housing Spokesman

25 February 2007

National calls for home affordability inquiry

National Party Housing spokesman Phil Heatley has launched a push to gain a select committee inquiry into home affordability in New Zealand.

“All political parties are supportive of New Zealanders’ home ownership ambitions and I hope they’ll be just as eager to see what’s going wrong and what can be done.”

Mr Heatley has written to the Commerce Select Committee calling for a wide ranging inquiry into issues including land availability, rent to buy programmes, home equity initiatives, building costs and regulatory matters.

“We don’t want the next generation to be locked out of owning their own home. We have to be more aggressive about how we bring down the barriers to home ownership.

“As much as $20,000 can be added to the cost of a new home through the resource consent process alone, accompanied by year-long delays.

“Land availability in some regions, and the cost of building materials, have also been identified as critical issues.

“It’s time for the parties who talk the talk on home ownership to walk the walk. I look forward to their support for a wide-ranging inquiry.”

Letter to Commerce Select Committee – 2 pages.

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/0702/HeatleyLetter.doc

ENDS

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