Marama Davidson in a park near her home in Manurewa. Photo / Greg Bowker
The Green Party wants the state house building programme scaled up to 5000 a year over the next five years to clear the waiting list of 18,000.
It would do that by extending the borrowing limit for Kainga Ora, the old Housing NZ, from $7.1 billion to $12 billion in order to boost its state house building programme.
It was part of the party's housing policy package dubbed Homes for All, released in Weymouth today by co-leader Marama Davidson, and which largely builds on current policies.
The package includes policies to:
• Deliver enough affordable rental homes to clear the social housing waiting list within five years.
• Stimulate a sustainable non-profit rental sector by offering Crown financial guarantees for community providers to build new rental properties.
• Remove funding and regulatory barriers to encourage community housing projects.
• Expand the current progressive home ownership and warmer Kiwi homes programmes.
Davidson is herself a renter and launched the policy in her neighbourhood.
"Housing is a human right," she said.
"We all deserve to live in a warm, dry home where we can put down roots and participate in our communities.
"Our plan announced today is a bold and cohesive blueprint to ensure we're all in a warm, dry home, no matter where we live or whether we rent or own."
She said successive Governments had sold off too much social and community housing, while letting the homes it owned fall into disrepair.
"They've also allowed speculators to over-invest in property, pushing up house prices and leaving too many families struggling with the high cost of rent.
"The Green Party knows that a home is more than four walls. Having a safe and secure roof over your head is a cornerstone of a good life.
"Our Homes for All Plan will create a sustainable, non-profit rental sector, by offering Crown financial guarantees for community housing providers, including iwi, to build new properties which can be rented out long-term.
"These homes would be managed as long-term rentals, giving people who rent real security."
The policy would also increase funding for Housing First by $20 million a year to help end homelessness.
She said that would give people with complex needs such as drug and alcohol addiction a safe place to live and wraparound support while underlying issues were worked through.
It would require Kāinga Ora to invite expressions of interest from owners of properties previously used as tourist accommodation to identify suitable places for short to medium term transitional housing while permanent options are built.
The 19-year-old was found in a remote area in the hills of Upper Hutt.