Habitat says Government housing growth changes positive, also need to grow affordable housing supply

Planning changes announced by Housing Minister, Chris Bishop to enable more homes to be built is a positive step, says Habitat for Humanity New Zealand.

The community housing provider (CHP) also adds that growing affordable housing supply has to go hand-in-hand with these changes.

“We know thousands of New Zealanders experience unacceptable living conditions because they live in cold, damp and unhealthy homes,” says Alan Thorp, Group Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity New Zealand.

“An affordable home, is one where the family is not spending more than 30% of disposable household income on paying for that home – either through rent or mortgage payments.”

As part of the direction the Government is taking to address the housing challenges New Zealand faces, we are also promoting a deeper involvement with CHPs such as Habitat, and others in the community housing sector.

“We’re ready and able to step up and partner with government to help address housing need for the cohort we work with. We agree with the Minister, the changes outlined today are a first step and there is a lot of work to be done.

“We also agree that the infrastructure and financing system are integral levers to enabling entities such as ourselves to gear up and deliver more housing outcomes. Access to low-cost capital is one of our major constraints in delivering more housing; along with land and policy settings.

“For example, by accessing $45M of interest-free loan capital from the previous Government’s Progressive Home Ownership fund that’s enabled us to scale up and deliver 105 more homes.

“Our vision is for all New Zealanders to have a decent place to live, and we look forward to working with the current Government to help achieve this.”