KEY POINTS:
Housing Minister Chris Carter says there is no single solution to the country's housing affordability crisis.
Interest rate increases, assistance to help young families get a deposit, and developing more affordable housing on public land such as that in Hobsonville were just some of the measures already being used.
Mr Carter said he hoped to pass a home affordability bill next year that would encourage developers to provide cheaper housing through incentives (such as allowing them to build higher) and penalties (levies for those who don't provide cheaper housing).
Next year's Budget would also allocate funds to start a shared equity pilot scheme.
Housing NZ said such schemes generally meant government money would bridge the gap between the maximum amount people on modest incomes could borrow and the amount they needed to buy a house in their area.
Phil Heatley, National's housing spokesman, said none of Mr Carter's ideas would work.
"The Government misses the point when they try to force affordable housing in subdivisions, as it is the land value that has skyrocketed everywhere in the last five years, not the building cost. If [developers] are forced to build the worst house in the best street, its value will still increase out of reach of first-home buyers within a few years." National would cut the red tape to allow more houses to be built and free up land, particularly Auckland's metropolitan urban limit.
"The cost of subdivision development will fall with Resource Management Act changes and the gains here will be passed on to all first-home buyers," Mr Heatley said.
"What this does is help everyone, whether buying a new or existing house, rather than the lucky few in an affordable home or a shared equity scheme."
United Future MP Gordon Copeland agreed.
"The supply of land for new housing has been artificially constrained in Auckland and elsewhere for some years now. Planning and other regulations have constrained land supply, creating conditions of scarcity," he said. "Demand has greatly exceeded supply and the price of homes, whether new or existing, has hiked dramatically."
Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said restricting land sales to New Zealand citizens would help solve the crisis. Putting a capital gains tax on investment properties would also help.
