Jane Matthews05:00, May 01 2021
GLENN JEFFREY/Stuff
Taranaki has the lowest level of “housing poverty” in the country. That hasn’t stopped the number of people needing emergency housing doubling in one year. (File photo)
At a point when a mother and son had nowhere else to go, New Plymouth s Jo Massey gave up her lounge and shed for months on end, so they had a roof over their heads. Massey offered the pair a place to sleep because she knew them, but she is one of the many doing their bit to alleviate the pain the lack of public, transitional and emergency housing is causing hundreds families in Taranaki.
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The bright-line test has been doubled in length and tax loopholes have been closed as the Labour Government moves on property speculators.
Housing Minister Megan Woods asked for advice on temporary rent controls as the Government prepared to extend the bright-line test and end interest deductibility in its shakeup of the property market in March. But officials believed the costs of these changes would largely not be passed on to renters, who were already paying about as much as they could. Yet the officials warned there could be an increase of “churn” in the rental market, putting low-income renters in the stressful position of having to find a new tenancy.
In March, the Government announced a shakeup of the property market aimed at increasing housing affordability, doubling the ‘bright-line test’ on residential property to 10 years and promising to spend billions trying to accelerate housing supply. The package included $3.8 billion for a Housing Acceleration Fund aimed at enabling thousands of new homes by footing the bill for infrastructure such as pipes and new roads.
Ross Giblin/Stuff In addition, Kāinga Ora would borrow a further $2 billion for strategic land purchases. The ministry noted that consents were at their highest level since 1973, but due to population increase country was only building 7.5 new homes per 1000 people, compared to 13.4 homes per 1000 people in 1973.
There is a risk that for some renters in the lower-priced parts of the rental market, that they will not be able to find a new rental property at a price they can afford. This could lead to either further pressure on emergency special needs grants, transitional and public housing, or to overcrowding to enable rent to be affordable.
The Government announced plans to phase out the tax loophole over four years, among a raft of other measures, to help first-home buyers and bring down ballooning house prices.
Property investors immediately threatened to increase rents to make up for the increased costs. But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stood by the policy, because investors now make up the biggest share of buyers in the housing market.