The Government’s promising it “won’t be a quick fix” as they look to fix an increasingly unaffordable housing market.
Crippling rent and housing prices have plunged the social housing wait list to an all-time high of over 22,000.
With a pledge to build 18,000 new homes in the next three years, Housing Minister Megan Woods acknowledged the cost of renting in a heated housing market can be tough.
“A lot of people are on that list because the housing market is so unaffordable. There are people who had previously been able to survive in the private housing market. It’s just because rent has gone up so much.”
Woods made the comments while touring a public housing development in Mt Roskill Auckland, speaking with Breakfast's Indira Stewart.
Woods says ministers across the board are looking into what can be done as well as using the Covid-19 recovery plan to stream line new housing developments.
Three projects were streamlined by the Government in November, helping to boost jobs in Huntly, Richmond and Auckland.
More emphasis on KiwiBuild properties is also on the cards with a standard three-bedroom home in Auckland to be capped at $650,000.
"It's a big uplift in building those state houses but also building those mixed communities with KiwiBuild. Giving the opportunity for people to buy affordable homes as well".
While public housing is "absolutely critical" for mending a skyrocketing property market, Megan Woods says there is still a lot more work to be done before it can be achieved.
Earlier this week National's leader Judith is calling on Jacinda Ardern to introduce urgent temporary law changes in a bid to speed up the house building process, and says her party would support the Government if they do.
Collins said the building of houses needed to be made "drastically easier".
"With rents and house prices spiraling out of control, Kiwis can no longer afford to wait," she said.
Collins said urgent temporary legislation to make it easier to build a house should be introduced, prior to any permanent RMA reforms.
"The legislation would give Government powers to rezone land and avoid frustrating consenting delays. It was done by National following the Canterbury earthquakes. It’s now urgent for the rest of the country."
"The housing emergency is driving up inequality, and it is hitting young New Zealanders the hardest," Collins said. "We are already seeing a major increase in the working poor here in New Zealand, where people put in the hard yards but still can’t get ahead. These house price increases just make it worse.”
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