Group calls on the government to "get its priorities right"
The government has welcomed the first 18 Kiwibuild families into their new homes.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford were present during the street party at the McLennan development in Papakura prepared for the new KiwiBuild families on October 27.
Ardern said KiwiBuild is giving thousands of young families, who have been locked out of homeownership, a chance to buy their own affordable starter home.
“It’s fitting that we’re welcoming the first KiwiBuild families into their own homes on the first anniversary of forming our government,” she stated. “It’s incredibly heart-warming.”
Twyford added the government is committed to tackling the national housing crisis, and the terrible impacts of unaffordable housing and a rental market under pressure.
However, advocacy group Auckland Action Against Property describes the celebration with the first KiwiBuild familes as a “PR stunt.”
The group warns that the focus on KiwiBuild will further exacerbate the housing crisis, instead of fixing it.
“We are calling on the Labour Government to get its priorities right and focus on the creation of social housing, instead of entrenching housing unaffordability,” Auckland Action Against Poverty coordinator Ricardo Menendez March said.
