MP for Te Atatū
Housing Spokesperson
16 July 2017
HAM shows country needs Labour on housing
The latest Housing Affordability Measure report shows affordability dramatically worsening for Auckland first home
buyers, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.
“After nine years of a Government that has failed to make any headway on fixing the housing crisis, New Zealand deserves
better.
“The number of potential first home buyers in Auckland who have only $220 left after making mortgage repayments has gone
up by one-third to 60 per cent since Nick Smith became Housing Minister.
“Those people face a choice between financial hardship or giving up forever on the dream of home ownership.
“Nationwide, 77 per cent of potential first home buyers cannot afford to buy. Sixty per cent of renters cannot afford to
pay the rent without experiencing hardship.
“Housing is the major driver of poverty and inequality in New Zealand today. It is taking a terrible toll on people,
from families who cannot afford a home of their own right through to families living in cars.
“Labour will break with the failed policies that got the country into this mess. We will build 100,000 affordable homes,
tax speculators, and reform the planning rules and financing of infrastructure to increase the supply of affordable
housing,” says Phil Twyford.
ends