Craig Sullivan can't find work but has to fork out $450 a week in rent and is among Northlanders struggling to buy a house. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Craig Sullivan can't find work but has to fork out $450 a week in rent and is among Northlanders struggling to buy a house. Photo / Michael Cunningham
A Whangārei dad currently without work but paying $450 in rent is supporting calls by social advocates for the adoption of a new KiwiBuy scheme to help struggling families buy their first home.
Work and savings have both dried up for self-employed painter Craig Sullivan who said living day-to-day was a constant struggle, let alone getting on to the property ladder.
However, the father of two with a third child on the way, said the KiwiBuy scheme suggested by the Salvation Army in its latest Beyond Renting report could be a glimmer of hope for families struggling with rent.
He was referring to the army's social policy analyst Alan Johnson's suggestion contained in the report that the Government should adopt the new scheme to help 50,000 New Zealanders buy their own home over the next decade.
Under the scheme, the Government would spend $1 billion each year to buy homes in partnership with lower-income Kiwis. Taxpayers would stump up as much as 40 per cent of the upfront cost of each home and the buyer would pay the rest.
Johnson said KiwiBuy could then work in tandem with the Government's current KiwiBuild plans to build and sell 100,000 homes to first-home buyers over the next decade by targeting those who couldn't afford KiwiBuild houses.
The scheme was bold but the Government needed to embrace bold plans because many families faced the reality of being trapped in the rental market for the rest of their lives, he said.
Sullivan said KiwiBuy was a good idea and he would definitely apply if the Government adopted the scheme.
Craig Sullivan can't find work but has to fork out $450 a week in rent and is among Northlanders struggling to buy a house. Photo / Michael Cunningham
He hasn't been able to secure work since winter began and said whatever savings he made last summer had been used.
"We've thought about living in a caravan or a bus to enable our savings to be used as a deposit. At the end of the week when I am working, I have to come up with at least $750 a week in order for us to get through," Sullivan said.
"That's not including food. I know a lot of homeless people in Whangārei and these are people that aren't doing drugs, they aren't drinking, they are working families who just can't afford to pay rent.
"The cost of everything is going up but wages have remained the same. Even homeowners are struggling with repayment. For me, we're just making ends meet until I pick up more work," he said.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford said the Government would focus on initiatives currently in place, including KiwiBuild, that would make homes affordable.
"But no matter how successful our Government is at driving down build costs, reducing red tape, and making KiwiBuild houses affordable, for many New Zealanders who would love the opportunity to have a crack at affordable home ownership, a mortgage of $300,000, or $400,000, or $500,000 will simply be out of reach," he said.
The Northland median weekly rent as at the end of August was $360, and the current median house price is $505,000.
Northland social housing advocate Carol Peters said the proposed KiwiBuy was a much better initiative to help struggling families than KiwiBuild.
"KiwiBuy could work in Te Tai Tokerau and we hope the Government says yay to it. This is exactly what I want the Government to do. It's a viable option," she said.
Northland Salvation Housing Trust chief executive Gordon Ferrier said shared equity could be a real game changer.
"At the moment, Government is spending millions housing people in motels but if that money is used to build more houses, a lot of families can be better off," he said.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand said home ownership levels across New Zealand were at their lowest level in 60 years.
"The current rental market will not be adequate to meet future demand, particularly if more landlords sell their rental properties to avoid the raft of legislative changes being implemented by the current government," chief executive Bindi Norwell said.
Ministry of Social Development figures show 307 people were on the Social Housing Register in Northland at the end of June compared with 276 at the end of March.
