Make a Change for Homes
Every Kiwi deserves a home. A place to raise our families and build a future. A home which is warm, dry and safe – this should be something we all have.
There are now more than 40,000 Kiwis without a home, more than any other developed country. The majority of homeless people in New Zealand are families with children.
Overcrowded, damp and mouldy homes are causing rising rates of serious infectious illness, especially among children. The rate of rheumatic fever in New Zealand is 30 times higher than in the UK.
The poorest 20% of households now spend more than half their income on housing costs.
The government has failed to invest in housing, with no new funding in the 2017 budget to build the homes we need. The government has failed to set enforceable standards for rented homes.
It’s time to make a change.
Working people are calling for:
- A rental warrant of fitness, enforced by local government, requiring insulation and standards to promote healthy and warm homes.
- More social housing through state and local government investment, supported by non-profit community providers. This must be provided by the State and not through privatisation.
- Changing the law on private renting to give tenants more security, regulate letting agents, and give more powers to the Tenancy Tribunal.
- Affordable homes, promoted through public investment in building, community housing initiatives, support for building on Māori land, facilitation of finance including KiwiSaver, and targeted support for disadvantaged groups.
- Accessible homes for people with disabilities, through quotas for new building, rental standards and making sure all new and renovated social housing is accessible.
- Healthy and warm homes for all, through strengthened building codes and public subsidies for energy-efficient upgrades including insulation.
- Stopping speculative investment in housing by introducing a capital gains tax and restricting sale of existing residential properties to New Zealand residents only.