Home

Ardern unveils big-spending NZ housing fix

Ben McKayAAP
PM Jacinda Ardern says investors will need a 40 per cent deposit to purchase additional homes.
Camera IconPM Jacinda Ardern says investors will need a 40 per cent deposit to purchase additional homes.

After months admitting New Zealand's housing market is in crisis, Jacinda Ardern's government has unveiled a multi-billion dollar package to grow housing stock and let first-time buyers into the market.

However there's skepticism the measures will curb out-of-control property prices fuelled by the government's response to COVID-19.

The centrepiece of Tuesday's announcement is a $NZ3.8 billion ($A3.5 billion) infrastructure fund to unlock land and fund infrastructure like roads and pipes to new homes.

The government hopes that will grow supply, bolstering housing stock by 80,000 to 130,000 houses with 20 years.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

Other policy tweaks aim to curb demand.

Landlords will no longer be able to write off interest paid on mortgages as a tax deduction and investors will have to pay tax on profit made from houses bought and sold within 10 years rather than five.

From May, investors will also need a 40 per cent cap deposit to purchase additional homes.

Ms Ardern has already banned many foreigners - but not Australians - from buying homes.

She said the package was aimed at "increasing supply and tilting the balance away from speculators towards first-home buyers".

"New Zealand's housing crisis is longstanding and will take time to turn around. There is no silver bullet," she warned.

The challenges are profound.

There are not enough homes or suitable homes, many are not warm or safe to live in, they are costly to build, and New Zealand's planning regime makes developing homes burdensome.

And recently, homes have become unaffordable.

With the exception of Christchurch, hit by a mammoth earthquake 10 years ago, house values have almost doubled over the past decade.

In the past year alone, prices have soared over 20 per cent, with investors utilising cheap mortgages to cash in.

The median house price in Auckland and Wellington, the country's two biggest cities, has crashed through the $NZ1 million mark.

The growth has delighted homeowners and investors but priced others out of their home ownership dream.

Fearing a backlash, Ms Ardern has not attempted to arrest that growth in this package but rather placed a stepladder under first homebuyers to allow them market entry.

Access to grants and loans for first home buyers will be extended, meaning singles earning under $NZ95,000 and couples earning under $NZ150,000 a year can get help buying a cheap home.

Many commentators believe the package has the potential to drive up rent, with landlords looking to make up lost dividends.

Others, like the opposition, have seethed at a broken election promise.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson specifically ruled out any changes to profit paid on income from selling houses in the election and Ms Ardern has been accused of bringing in a capital gains tax by stealth.

"They've turned it into a full-scale capital gains test ... total broken promises," opposition leader Judith Collins said.

"The Labour party has lied to New Zealanders."

Ms Ardern's previous efforts to tackle housing have proven ineffective.

Labour's signature election promise was a pledge to build 100,000 homes in 10 years, a gargantuan undertaking it abandoned two years later having delivered just 258 homes.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails