Harcourts real estate executive Martin Cooper is disappointed not to see more funding allocated for KiwiBuild in this year's Budget, saying Housing Minister Phil Twyford isn't delivering on election promises.
Cooper, who is managing director of Harcourts Cooper and Co on Auckland's North Shore, said that while he was happy to see more funding for education and conservation, he was disappointed not to see more being done to fund KiwiBuild.
He said the funding for KiwiBuild was not enough, and he was worried the Government would be unable to fulfil its KiwiBuild promise. "The big frustration for me is still Twyford banging on prior to the election and the crisis we had in housing and saying he was going to save the day and build us another 100,000 homes," he said.
Harcourts NZ CEO Chris Kennedy said the Budget pledge to increase social housing by more than 6000 homes over the next four years was "good news for those families who need a roof over their head".
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However, he stressed the importance of getting the necessary infrastructure in place and improving rail and roading networks for the communities where these new builds are to take place.
Mr Kennedy added: "With the additional 1600 state homes being built this year but primarily funded through more borrowing from third parties and Housing New Zealand, I’d like to remind our government that as per the Housing New Zealand stock sheet from March 2018, there are still 500 vacant homes. Maybe we could get these homes ready for families who so desperately need them today as a priority.
"What is great news, however, is the new insulation programme that is scheduled for roll-out. This is vital for keeping many of our families who will suffer from the effects of the cold weather, safe and warm this winter and beyond."
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell was disappointed that landlords would not have access to the $142.5 million insulation grant scheme. Currently, the funds are for lower-income owner-occupiers. “Landlords are in the market for the long term and they provide an extremely important service to those renting homes across the country. We are concerned landlords have been forgotten in the Budget when it comes to being able to the Healthy Homes Insulation Grants," she said.
“Insulating a property will come at a significant cost to landlords and providing grants to support landlords with help ensures that insulation is not only installed in properties but that they are incentivised to do so quickly. Therefore, if landlords don’t have access to insulation grants, it is highly likely that some of this cost will be passed on to their tenants or it could lead to landlords selling their properties and the level of rental stock being reduced.”
