Affordable rentals decline significantly
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is calling for better monitoring of housing stock, particularly private rentals, as new research revealed a significant decrease in affordable rentals in most regions over the past five years.
Researcher Greg Waite found substantial declines in affordable rentals for low-income working families in 12 out of 16 regions between 2018 and 2023.
Regional declines in affordable rentals
The research highlighted severe drops in affordable rental housing in regions such as Northland (-14%), Bay of Plenty (-11%), Gisborne (-14%), Hawke’s Bay (-17%), Manawatu-Wanganui (-22%), Marlborough (-13%), and Southland (-26%).
“New Zealand’s private rental market consistently rates as one of the most unaffordable in the OECD,” Waite said. “This is because successive governments have chosen housing policies that have failed to match the supply to the demand for affordable housing.”
Despite a consistent share of affordable one and two-bedroom rentals nationally due to increased building in Auckland and Christchurch, the national trend masks significant regional disparities.
Call for increased public housing
CPAG highlighted the need for increased public housing, especially in under-served regions.
“The government must continue to build public housing at scale,” Waite said.
“Leaving the supply of affordable housing ‘to the markets’ means leaving house prices and rents to a particular type of market, one designed to extract more profit from homeowners, renters, and government tax subsidies.”
Critique of current government policies
Waite slammed current government policies that favour property investment over building affordable homes.
“Unfortunately, the current government is continuing to choose policies that favor the few over the many,” he said. “Most recently, reviving past policies which reward over-investment in property for resale and capital gains, when we need many more affordable homes built.”
CPAG is urging local and national governments to implement better policies to ensure sufficient affordable housing and to protect families from being trapped in poverty due to high housing costs.
Read the CPAG report in full here.
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