Green Party co-leaders James Shaw (left) and Marama Davidson have announced their pre-election housing policy. Photo: RNZ/Krystal Gibbens
The Green Party have launched their pre-election housing policy with promises to give everyone in New Zealand a healthy home to live in.
The party's 'Pledge to Renters' promises to introduce a Renters' Rights Bill within the first 100 days of a new government, aiming to ensure that every individual who rents a home has a safe, healthy and affordable place to call their own.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said the housing crisis was a "political choice".
"For decades, politicians have chosen to enable housing speculation that drives up prices, making home ownership an unattainable dream for more and more families."
She said that inaction by successive governments had also resulted in thousands of people living in cold, damp, and unhealthy homes that were making them sick.
"They have chosen to let landlords get away with charging through the roof for homes that literally leak through the roof," she said.
Davidson said the decisions made by successive governments were disproportionately hurting the 1.4 million New Zealanders who rented.
The Green Party, she said, would take action to guarantee people's rent was always fair and affordable, and homes were warm, dry, and healthy.
The 'Pledge to Renters'
Rents controls would limit how much landlords could increase the rent by each year. The cap would never be higher than 3 percent, which is the upper limit of the Reserve Bank's inflation target.
Landlords would not be allowed to raise rents beyond this limit unless they have made substantial improvements to the property.
The controls would also be property based rather than tenancy to prevent landlords putting up the rent between tenants.
A Rental Warrant of Fitness would guarantee all rental homes were safe, warm and healthy to live in.
A national register of all landlords and property managers would keep track of how many properties were rented, ownership, how much rent was charged over time, and compliance with the Rental Warrant of Fitness.
More affordable, accessible and environmentally friendly homes in the places where people want to live would be created.
A government-backed underwrite would ensure community providers could build new rental homes with confidence.
And an accelerating the public building programme would ensure people living on the lowest incomes had a warm, safe place to put down roots.
Promise of a better future
The Green Party's commitment to renters is part of their broader plan to end poverty in Aotearoa.
Alongside the 'Pledge to Renters', they recently introduced an Income Guarantee, which ensures that no individual's income falls below $385 per week.
"Together with our Income Guarantee, the housing policy we are announcing today will end poverty in Aotearoa," Davidson said.
"Access to a warm, safe home is a human right," Party Co-leader James Shaw said.
"For decades, we have normalised a standard of housing in Aotearoa that is so bad it puts people's health at risk."
Renters deserved better, he said.
Thousands of children were admitted to hospital each year for respiratory illnesses from living in damp, mouldy homes, Shaw said.
Around 700 submissions they had received from renters sharing their stories had also highlighted the dire state of New Zealand's rental market.
Shaw said some of the stories shared included an infant having a chronic cough from black mould, a carpet so damp it grew mushrooms and people unable to afford heating due to the cost of rent.
"We know how to make homes safe, healthy, affordable, and warm. Everything we need to make life better for people in Aotearoa exists. What's missing is the political willpower to use it," Shaw said.