June - July 2021
Where does housing fit into Budget 2021? More houses, warmer homes and higher Māori home ownership were clear objectives in the Government’s latest budget, but they face criticism for lacking any real solutions to New Zealand’s housing crisis
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inance Minister Grant Robertson's fourth budget will invest $3.8b in a Housing Acceleration Fund, insulate 47,700 homes and put $380m towards raising Māori homeownership, which currently sits at just 30%. $131.8m will also go towards replacing RMA, which is hoped to improve the delivery of new housing. Century 21 Owner Derryn Mayne applauds the Government on funding its housing initiatives, but says Budget 2021 will make little difference for most firsthome buyers. “The Finance Minister has long promised to ‘tilt the
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balance more towards firsthome buyers’ but Budget 2021 has not achieved that. “He could’ve announced partnership models such as ‘rent to buy’ schemes or that the Government would act as loan guarantor for eligible first-home buyers. Another initiative could’ve been interest-free government loans for deposits on first homes – like student loans in tertiary education. It’s those kinds of things that would’ve made a real difference.” Property Council New Zealand Chief Executive Leonie Freeman adds that for many of the core issues around housing supply and
delivering infrastructure at pace, the Budget doesn’t offer any new options. “It’s encouraging to see the Government engaging with the community and investing in Māori housing, and our members are supportive of any initiative that increases and improves New Zealand’s housing stock. “However, it would have been good to see further investment in alternative housing initiatives to help fuel our housing supply,” says Freeman. “There is no mention of initiatives like Build-to-Rent in the Budget. At a time where all options should be
on the table, Build-to-Rent offers the Government a unique opportunity to support longer term options for New Zealanders. “Equally, support for local authorities and businesses to implement planning law reforms is critical to their success. Councils need the tools and resources to ensure the changes have a favourable outcome and remove any barriers that might exist. “Much of the detail around the Housing Accelerator Fund is still left out, so it is hard to know how much of a difference this will make to supply. Along with significant workforce constraints,
