Labour - buy house, not land

THE DOMINION POST: A Labour-led government would let low-income people build houses on Crown land in a bid to improve housing affordability.

Prime Minister Helen Clark released Labour's housing policy at a house in the Auckland suburb of Avondale this afternoon.

She said Labour's new HOPE (Home Ownership on the Public Estate) initiative would result in low-income people paying for the building of their house on the land.

The move would dramatically lower the cost of a home, she said.

The scheme was similar to one proposed by National, but under National's policy the home owner would eventually be able to buy the land.

Miss Clark said Labour would not allow the land to be sold and they wished the home to remain affordable into the future.

"Under the HOPE programme a two to three bedroom starter home could be built for around $165,000, which a family earning around $44,000 could afford. This is made possible by the Crown retaining ownership of the land," Miss Clark said.

The value of the house with the land could be $305,000, she said.

Labour had identified a significant number of Crown land sites in Auckland where there was shortage of affordable homes.

"Labour will make 1500 sites available over the next four years for families to build homes," Miss Clark said.

Material released with the announcement did not indicate what level of income would be the cut-off mark, but it did indicate it would be below $73,000 per household.

She said housing affordability had become a problem for a lot of young couples, with prices rising 80 per cent in the six years since 2002.

"A number of young couples looking for a starter home have found it hard to get a foot in the door."