Four people who’ve never voted or voted but didn’t care sit in a room and learn about politics, so you don’t have to. This week: Housing and Rentals.
Labour
- Labour supports building more affordable and public housing, increasing infrastructure investment to enable new developments, and incentivising affordable rentals and first‑home ownership as well as restricting foreign buyers. They oppose no‑cause evictions and favour stronger renter protections, and expanding progressive home‑ownership schemes. (As of 2023 policy position)
- Have the production of housing listed as a ‘priority’ and have claimed they want to make renting fairer.
- “Labour believes in supporting first home buyers. Our capital gains tax will help. The previous Labour Government introduced a number of measures to support first home buyers, one of which – the Kāinga Ora First Home Grant, National cut.” – Georgie Dansey
ACT
- Supported changes which made it easier for Landlords to end tenancies
- Campaigned on abolishing the First Home Grant Scheme
- “In a functional market, each generation can afford to buy off the last […] If the market stops functioning, then a whole lot of angry young people decide they don’t want to play the game anymore.” – David Seymour
National
- Under National, Landlords are now allowed to end periodic tenancies given 90 days’ notice without needing to provide a specific reason.
- Passed the Fast-Track bill under urgency which has been argued to increase the speed of housing production at the cost of bypassing environmental regulations
- Cut the Kāinga Ora First Home Grant which allowed eligible buyers to secure a home loan with a deposit as low as 5%
- “Landlords need confidence their funds and assets are being managed properly, and tenants need to know they can rely on their residential property manager to act lawfully.” – Tama Potaka
Greens
- Campaigning on introducing a Rental Warrant of Fitness
- Have campaigned on Rent increases being capped at 3% annually
- “Other countries have shown how sensible, practical policies to strengthen renter’s rights and common-sense tax settings, to stop housing being treated as a state-sanctioned casino, means more affordable homes.” – Chlöe Swarbrick
NZ First
- Vocal supporters of the fast-track bill which has been argued to increase housing developments
- Campaigned on restoring Tax deductibility to encourage more landlords to provide answers to rental shortages
- Have been strong supporters of the foreign buyers ban, but have made concessions to wealthy foreigners e.g. ‘Golden Visa’ holders.
- “All New Zealanders must have a genuine opportunity to buy their own home. New Zealand First believes that this is only achievable by government intervention.” – Winston Peters
Te Pāti Māori
- Strongly pro‑tenant, Anti‑speculation and anti‑landlord privilege, Focused on Māori housing equity, Supportive of rent protections and social housing expansion, Critical of policies that increase evictions or reduce renter rights (As of 2023 policy position)
- Have campaigned on freezing rent across the country, with rates only allowed to increase according to inflation
- Strong advocates for social housing policies targeted towards Māori and iwi-led development on ancestral Māori land
- “No one has the right to profit from a housing crisis.” – Te Pāti Māori in a Facebook post announcing their commitment to rent freezes
Opportunity Party
- Campaigning on a strategy of ‘deflation’, lowering house prices by increasing supply
- Want to introduce a Land Value Tax of 1.75% annually to redirect investment from real estate and reduce house prices
- Would introduce a UBI of $20,000 a year aimed at offsetting hardships like rent and power rates
- “If we want affordable housing for New Zealanders, prices have to drop AND we have to build a lot of homes, a lot faster”. – Opportunity Party Affordable Housing Policy outline
Responses:
Lauren:
Filly: Due to my current situation, what Labour is proposing sounds really good to me, one of my end goals has always been buying a house for my fam, so any support to help me do this is highly welcome. Also, the protection for renter’s sounds good as well.
Zoe: The recurring theme here is that National are a bunch of dicks with support from more dicks (ACT and NZ First). I think Te Pāti Māori makes the best point here with the freezing of rent to only match inflation. This Universal Basic Income stuff is also sounding better and better to be honest, and a Land Value tax seems like a good idea too. I will admit I broke my Political Virgin status by googling the Opportunity party and reading through their policies. I think that puts me into political first base?
Germaine: I fully support the idea of introducing a rental warrant of fitness. I feel too many homes in NZ are currently substandard and need to be improved for renters and tenants. I also agree with the greens on a cap on rental increases as I feel many people are already struggling to meet basic costs.
