Two Sides To Housing Affordability Coin - CTU

“Home affordability is not just about house prices – it is also about incomes, and low wages means home ownership is now increasingly out of reach for low and middle income New Zealanders,” CTU president Ross Wilson told a select committee today.

The Council of Trade Unions this morning presented to the Commerce select committee on their inquiry into housing affordability in New Zealand.

"House prices are still outstripping wages by 4 to 1. In the year to June for example, wages rose by 3.1% while house prices were up 12.2%.  The significant gap between wages and house prices is worrying for many workers, in particular those trying to enter the home market for the first time.”

“The CTU does support a capital gains tax on investment housing and removing the offsetting of expenses for rental properties against income.”

“But regular wage increases are also vital in tackling the high cost of home ownership.”

“It will be important to ensure workers make use of the KiwiSaver provisions for first home buyers, and unions are currently running a campaign to make sure union members get the best opportunities to benefit from KiwiSaver.”

The CTU submission also focused on improving the supply of affordable housing through subsidised home lending programmes, freeing up land banked property, shared equity, more state housing, affordable housing quotas, and higher investment in skilled labour for residential construction.  It is available for download here: http://union.org.nz/policy/housing-affordability-June-07