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Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Our view: Fixing the housing crisis a tall task

Rotorua Daily Post
6 Sep, 2019 05:00 PM3 mins to read

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Housing Minister Megan Woods announces the KiwiBuild reset. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Housing Minister Megan Woods announces the KiwiBuild reset. Photo / Mark Mitchell

EDITORIAL: Last year the Government promised 100,000 Kiwibuild homes over 10 years. But this week it axed that target as part of a reset of the programme.

Now the Government has simply committed to building "as many houses as we can, as quickly as we can" and earmarked $400 million for a new "progressive homeownership" programme which could support up to 4000 households into homeownership.

Among other changes, the Government has also made it easier for first-home buyers to get government assistance, by dropping the required deposit for a government-based mortgage from 10 per cent, to 5 per cent.

So far, so good.

But where are these houses going and what on earth does "as quickly as we can" actually mean?

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It doesn't matter how many houses are built unless they are affordable and that's not something that looks changeable.

The problem is affordability and availability. Photo / File
The problem is affordability and availability. Photo / File

One of the biggest hurdles first-home buyers face is availability. What use is a lower deposit requirement if buyers are locked out of markets by grant caps and stock?

A 5 per cent deposit is well and good but you still have to find the house.

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The problem is both availability and the fact house prices continue to rise but the upper limit for houses bought using the First Home Grants remains fixed.

In Rotorua, it's $400,000 for an existing home and $500,000 for a new home, while in Tauranga it's $500,000 for an existing home and $550,000 for a new home.

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Homes below those limits get snapped up quickly and new builds are rarely in that price range, particularly as you add bells and whistles.

A look at OneRoof this week showed just 60 properties, excluding sections, for sale under $550,000 and just 51 in Rotorua under $400,000.

If you find one you like, you can bet your bottom dollar a handful of others like it too putting buyers in a multi-offer position which may push them out.

Let's hope "as many houses as we can, as quickly as we can" is enough for those first-home buyers.

When it comes to buying a home you either can afford it or you can't. And the reality is there are many who can't. In fact, this could be considered a slap in the face for the many families and individuals in emergency housing.

The latest figures show the Ministry of Social Development spent more than $3.3m in three months putting people up in motels in Rotorua.

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We acknowledge the Government has announced a $54m funding package to help prevent and reduce homelessness with the money set to go towards initiatives supporting at-risk individuals and whānau to stay in stable housing.

But as of last month there were 12,311 people on the waiting list for state and community-provided housing.

Fixing these problems is a tall task and the housing crisis has no quick fix.

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