Labour campaigned strongly agaisnt the national government over it’s poor handling of growing housing problems. They have promised big (100,00o new houses in 10 years), but are yet to look like delivering.
Today on Q&A: Can Labour fix our housing problems?
Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford is Corin’s lead interview. He has ambitious plans to make housing affordable again – can he deliver?
Twyford was mostly vague about progress, saying the government is working on things and yet to decide on many aspects of the house building project.
He couldn’t give specifics on how windfall profits of those who draw new houses from the ballot will be treated – potentially those who win the housing lottery could gain hundreds of thousands of equity. Twyford said that eventually the increased housing supply would rectify it. There is no guarantee of that, far from it.
Twyford said there will be no means testing – I think that referred to people who are well off (high earners or with family financial support) will not be excluded from entering the ballots.
They must means test any house purchaser in respect of being able to afford to service their mortgage.
It will take a year or two to see whether sufficient progress is being made.
Pete George
/ 25th March 2018Twyford was vague about how many would be actually built there.
PartisanZ
/ 25th March 2018Excellent motorway views from there … should sell like hotcakes …
PartisanZ
/ 25th March 2018Names won’t be a problem … ‘Carrington Mews’ … and ‘Oakley Heights’ …
PartisanZ
/ 25th March 2018Probably ‘Oakleigh’ would be better … to quell the ghosts …
PDB
/ 25th March 2018lurcher1948
/ 25th March 2018You did nothing as usual,Judith, full of piss and wind labour will get it done.
traveller
/ 25th March 2018Like everything ACC left wing cabal has already been doing it’s level best to close down this. The sewerage and wastewater? There’s your $11.7 billion hole there
Tell us why Ms Ardern and Twyford wont tell us the purchase cost?
Blazer
/ 25th March 2018yes this runaway gravy train foistered on ratepayers by National has been a big flop.All the promised synergies and cost savings have been yet again proven to be …b/s of a typical right wing …habit.
Gezza
/ 25th March 2018I always had to fly economy class on government business. Never high enuf up the food chain to go business class (and didn’t want to get the lobotomy apparently required). Do you fly economy class, trav?
traveller
/ 25th March 2018Across the Tasman I do Gezza. Although that said, I’m going on Wednesday and I’ve applied for an upgrade using points.
Difference is I’m paying for myself. I’m a firm believer in the old adage that ” if you can afford to travel First Class and you don’t, be sure that your children will ”
I’m sure you know the acronym SKI
Gezza
/ 25th March 2018lol. I do now. 🙂
artcroft
/ 25th March 2018Apparently the housing crisis is over, or so you would think given the media coverage of it since November. Under National the media led with this story EVERY day.
Under Jacinda, not a peep.
Ray
/ 25th March 2018And what happened to all those poor bs living in cars, just a pinch of fairy dust and it is all solved.
Thanks media.
PartisanZ
/ 25th March 2018I’d suggest to you that the extent of the real problem of homelessness, and its media coverage at the time, forced National to take some action and considerably alleviate it … albeit mostly with short-term motel accommodation loans … corporate welfare for a struggling sector of the tourist accommodation industry … or in other words business subsidies …
I recall the plight of women’s refuges being used as homeless shelters got some publicity somewhere … which highlights the overlap between poverty/inequality, domestic violence and homelessness …
That said, I do think it would be a good, useful and relevant thing for the media to revisit …
David
/ 25th March 2018From memory Twyford was quite amusing with his attacks on Nick Smith. You cant live in a building consent springs to mind.
This has been on the cards for a while now lets see if there is a sod turned before the 2020 election. Goff will be more accommodating I wold imagine.
bjoneskiwi
/ 25th March 2018I see the NIMBYS have started fund raising to fight the development and expect Maori will be a along shortly to claim the land. The chances of any houses getting built on this land in the next five years are slim.
sorethumb
/ 25th March 201810 ways for the new government to be smarter about immigration
Note the inappropriate picture with this Spinoff post. Immigration is about declining space and quality of life.
traveller
/ 25th March 2018In a land mass the size of England we have less than 5 Million people.
Whatcha talking about Willis!
Blazer
/ 25th March 2018I agree Trav…NZ has plenty of land,but unfortunately just like it has plenty of fish,steak,butter etc…locals…can’t afford it!
sorethumb
/ 25th March 2018When S = D we have U. Therefore M will occur to increase D.
Gezza
/ 25th March 2018Pull back from the brink. You’re barking now ST.
Trevors_elbow
/ 25th March 2018Geeez economic equations is this what we have descended to…. the dismal “science”?????
Zedd
/ 25th March 2018Good to see Twyford, at least trying to do something about the disgraceful home ownership issue; even if after 9 LOOOOONG years of totally unregulated rises (>$1mil); but is $600k for a first home in Akld actually ‘affordable’ for a young kiwis family as he said ?
Time to be serious about further decentralisation.. “yes there is live south of the Bombay hills !” even as far down.. as Dunaz 😀
Alan Wilkinson
/ 25th March 2018Rises started in 2001, Zedd. Caused by over- regulation not lack of regulation.
Blazer
/ 25th March 2018your obsession once again…lack of regulation was the major cause…regulation re landbanking,speculation and foreign ownership would have prevented the crisis…developing.
Alan Wilkinson
/ 25th March 2018Why didn’t the Clark govt do it then? They had plenty of time. The answer of course is that those are all irrelevant to the real cause of the problem and attacking them would bring grief for no reward.
Ray
/ 25th March 2018Interesting
@RichardMorganNZ: @MarjaLubeck @Jaydeear @NZQandA
9 years of Helen
Houses up 116%
Shortage 75,000
9 years of Nats
Houses up 63%
Shortage 35,000
When lefty media
PartisanZ
/ 25th March 2018Doesn’t surprise me one bit! Prof Jane Kelsey essentially wrote ‘The FIRE Economy’ about the Fifth Labour government …
So basically what you’re saying Ray is: National lost that race!
Imagine how much better the economy would have been if National had achieved Labour’s level of ‘productivity and efficiency’ in the housing market … It’s Economics 101 – Shortage amplifies Price …
Most people will be hoping Labour can do it again!
If your Real Estate speculatively blooms in value (like algae in a river), sure, your Insurance will cost a bit more but you’ll be able to borrow massively from the Financiers …
traveller
/ 25th March 2018There’s tens of thousands of houses being built as I type. Went past hundreds today in Flat Bush/South Auckland and at Beachlands. Pine Harbour has hundreds of places going up with four ferries to transport the locals
Labour propaganda.
PDB
/ 26th March 2018Not to mention in Franklin, especially Pukekohe, Patumahoe, Paerata and Pokeno. Alfriston & Drury as well are preparing for massive housing developments & Takanini continues to grows as do parts of Papakura.
The whole issue in Auckland is really about first home buyers being shut out of the housing market in the inner suburbs/ expensive areas closer to the CBD as if they have a right to cheaper homes in those more desirable areas.
sorethumb
/ 25th March 2018What determines how many people from abroad get to settle permanently in New Zealand is the residence approvals programme. Under that programme, at present the aim is to grant around 45000 approvals to non-citizens each year (Australians aren’t subject to visa requirements, but in most years the net inflow of Australians is very small). The outgoing government reduced that target (from 47500) last year. Labour’s immigration policy document does not, even once, mention the residence approvals programme. That was, no doubt, a conscious choice. They are quite happy with the baseline rate of non-citizen immigration we’ve had for the last 20 years; quite happy to have the highest planned rate of non-citizen immigration anywhere in the OECD. Medium-term forecasts of the net non-citizen immigration inflow will not change, one iota, if Labour proceeds with their policy. For some of course, that will be a desirable feature. For others it is a serious flaw, that results from failing to come to grips with the damage large scale immigration is doing to the economic fortunes of New Zealanders.
https://croakingcassandra.com/2017/10/25/the-new-governments-immigration-policy/
Alan Wilkinson
/ 25th March 2018Weasel words. Nowhere near highest actual rate in OECD. Deliberate misrepresentation:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_net_migration_rate
Gezza
/ 25th March 2018Item one on 1ewes tonite seemed to be 10,000 overstayers and the Immigration Service saying it isn’t chasing them up?
(Mind you that’s down from 20,000 a couple of decades back.)
Hang on. I’ve got a pukeko banging on my window. Needs a boot up the bum. Should be in bed. Back soon.
lurcher1948
/ 25th March 2018But the bottom line WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD WANT TO LIVE IN AUCKLAND, you leave to go to work at 5am,at 6am you have reached the end of your street
Pete George
/ 26th March 2018Pete George
/ 26th March 2018Alan Wilkinson
/ 26th March 2018Hoskings says they’ll be a slum in 10 years:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12020092
Blazer
/ 26th March 2018no one really cares what Hoskings…. thinks.We were on’ the cusp of something ..specia’ for ..9 years!Bol.
Blazer
/ 26th March 2018Mr Bridges….[no need for comments on personal appearance – PG]
Blazer
/ 26th March 2018I notice comments on Arderns footwear are..o.k.
PDB
/ 26th March 2018http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12020092
“It’s 29 hectares and 4000 houses at under $600 grand a pop. Do the numbers. That’s 72 square metres per house, that’s the land content by the way not the size of the house, although I doubt many of the houses will be a lot bigger.”
It’s actually a lot smaller than that considering Twyford has promised new parks there, a stream runs through it and things like footpaths, roads etc need to be factored in. Not to mention the multi-million $ cost of upgrading the services there to cope with the development.
Kiwislum here we come!