Hon. Judith Colins
National Party Spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development

23 May 2018

Phil Twyford changes his tune over KiwiFail. Again.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford confirmed three days ago that no income limits will be applied to prospective KiwiBuild buyers but today, under questioning, he said he had not yet decided about that, National’s Housing spokesperson Judith Collins says.

“Phil has campaigned on - and insisted – that he will build affordable KiwiBuild homes for first home buyers, but without income limits there is no way that he can ensure that these houses go to those who really need them.

“This could mean a New Zealand born couple who have spent their working lives offshore and have a $300,000 deposit could be eligible for a KiwiBuild house even though they have never worked or paid taxes in New Zealand – most Kiwis would agree that’s not fair.

“The taxes of hard working carpenters, plumbers and electricians who have lived and worked in New Zealand should not be used to subsidise those that are wealthy enough to buy a home.

“His shifting-sand decisions hit another problem today when he could not answer whether KiwiBuild home owners will be allowed to rent out rooms in their KiwiBuild house. He also had no clue as to how development contribution costs would impact the KiwiBuild home buyer.

“Auckland Council is considering adding $50,000 to the development cost of each new housing section. This cost would be dumped on developers and on Kiwi families and Phil has no plan to deal with this either.

“MBIE officials have said that an income of around $114,000 would be needed to buy a KiwiBuild home. Now that the costs will be rising by $50,000 per section, we can expect that Phil Twyford’s own estimate of $60,000 income needed is grossly inaccurate.

“He then went on to mention today that potential buyers might need an income of $170,000 with no explanation. Confusion reigns.

“After nine years in opposition and Kiwi taxpayers stumping up $2 billion for Labour’s flagship scheme, Phil Twyford should have these details,” Ms Collins says.

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