NZ First leader Winston Peters and incoming Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signing their coalition agreement at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
NZ First leader Winston Peters and incoming Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signing their coalition agreement at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Foreign buyers are out and a rent-to-own scheme is in as coalition agreements reveal plans to help Kiwis still hoping to purchase their own home.
Agreements with NZ First and the Green Party were yesterday announced by Prime Minister-designate Jacinda Ardern.
In the Labour-Greens confidence and supply agreement, there is a promise to deliver innovative home ownership models within the state and a broader community housing programme.
"A rent-to-own scheme or similar progressive ownership models will be developed as part of Labour's KiwiBuild programme."
New Zealand First and Labour agreed to ban foreigners from buying existing homes, strengthen the Overseas Investment Act and set-up a comprehensive register of foreign-owned land and housing.
Winston Peters said: "I got pretty close" to the measures wanted by NZ First.
"The reality is there is going to be a change and a clear signal set internationally that New Zealand is no longer for sale in the way that it has been. And we are happy with that."
The Labour-NZ First agreement announced that a Housing Commission will be established.
Labour's housing policy focused on building more affordable houses for first-home buyers, banning foreign speculators from buying existing homes and increasing the number of state houses built for families in need.
Its KiwiBuild initiative promised to build 100,000 affordable houses for first-home buyers within a decade.
In Auckland, standalone houses built under KiwiBuild would cost between $500,000 to $600,000, while apartments and terraced homes would be under $500,000.
NZ First's housing policy wanted to reduce pressure on housing by cutting back foreign migrants entering the country and also ensure that only Kiwi citizens and permanent residents could buy freehold land.
The Greens' key housing points pushed housing as a basic right, that everyone should have secure tenure of appropriate housing and that no one should be prevented from establishing a decent home because of a low income.
The Motupally family have found a new home in Te Kauwhata. Photo/Supplied
New home owner Prashanth Motupally, who moved his family from Auckland's Blockhouse Bay to Te Kauwhata after struggling to find a home for less than $800,000, said first-home buyers would welcome the news.
They have lived in their new house, which cost $539,000, for four months and although his wife and two children, aged 14 and 7, commute to Auckland daily, owning their own property was worth it, he said.
"There are so many moving here [from Auckland] and most of them commute to Auckland and some go and work in Hamilton."
Homes.co.nz spokesman Jeremy O'Hanlon said the announcements offered a new round of hope for first-home buyers.
"This is a significant issue for families who are trying to own their home."
