News that the average house value in Lower Hutt is now $968,000, up an astonishing 38 per cent in the last twelve months alone, is deeply troubling, says National List MP based in Hutt South Chris Bishop

“When I first became an MP, not even seven years ago, it was possible to buy a good three bedroomed house in Naenae or Wainuiomata for under $300,000. Now the average house in the Hutt is nearly a million dollars.

“This isn’t the future I want for our city. High house prices have driven increased rents, a big social housing waiting list, and real homelessness in our city. Here are the facts:

· Lower Hutt mean rents have risen from $361 per week in October 2017 to $529 per week in April 2021 – a rise of $170 per week in three and a half years

· The social housing waitlist in Lower Hutt is at near-record levels, with 573 clients on the waitlist as at 31 March 2021 (an increase from 198 in September 2017)

· $21 million has been spent on emergency housing grants (which pay for people to stay in motels) since they began in December 2017.

“In my role as a MP I see the effects of our housing crisis every day. It’s time for some plain speaking about the crisis facing our city. Kids are growing up in motels. People are sleeping rough. And first home buyers are locked out of a housing market that looks stacked against them.

“We simply have to get on with building new houses. Increased supply is the only real and sustainable answer to our housing woes. That’s why I’m proposing opening up the greenfield land in upper Fitzherbert in Wainuiomata. Around 2000 homes can be built on the land and the idea has been around since the 1970s.

“It’s time to get on with it as a matter of priority and the Council needs to urgently looking at bringing the proposed rezoning forward.

“Alongside this the Council should be urgently starting the investigatory work on a second access road from north Wainuiomata through to Naenae or Whites Line East. This will be required as part of the rezoning of the rural land and would help increase resilience for Wainuiomata.

“The Hutt hasn’t had a new suburb since the 1980s and the effects can be seen on housing in our city today. It’s time for action.

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