June 30, 2014
Labour pledges Christchurch housing boost
Te Tai Tonga MP Rino Tirikatene says National’s policy of waiting for the market to fix housing in Christchurch isn’t working, and urgent action is needed.
Mr Tirikatene says with housing is the biggest issue in the city, but fewer than 1000 of the 12,000-plus homes needed to replace those damaged by the earthquake have been built.
He says rents are skyrocketing and two or three whanau are crammed into single houses.
"It’s been going on for way too long and you can't leave it up to the market to rectify it because here we are three years on and here we've got these huge housing shortages. The aftermath of the earthquakes has turned the market upside down and they're still adjusting," he says.
Mr Tirikatene says a Labour Government would increase the accommodation supplement for Christchurch to the same level paid in Auckland, build 400 new homes in its first six months to be used as temporary emergency accommodation, and build 10,000 affordable homes in the Canterbury region through its KiwiBuild policy.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH RINO TIRIKATENE CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MTk2MDY=
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