Home owners fail to get on election radar, says REINZ

New Zealand homeowners are being overlooked in the election lolly-scramble according to the president of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, Howard Morley.

Monday, September 5th 2005, 7:17AM

Morley told the annual meeting of the Institute, in Napier, that one of the more disappointing features of the election campaign so far has been the limited recognition of the need to better incentivise first home ownership.

“Why don’t the political parties pick up on New Zealanders’ belief in home ownership as their main retirement asset?” he asked.

“What’s needed are incentives for those wanting to invest in their first home, including those currently in the state rental system, to achieve the 'step up' necessary to raise a deposit sufficient to acquire a home.

“Such assistance would take the pressure off the state system and also encourage the next generation of home owners into the savings ethic and the effort associated with home ownership.”

Morley said some of the political parties, both major and minor, did not seem to prioritise assistance to first home ownership, “which we believe is essential to our savings ethic and to the development of good communities.”

While present policy provides assistance with housing through state ownership of part of the housing pool, that was very much the safety net part of the housing market, Morley said.

“The conclusion we have to reach from this is that those who want to save for their futures through home ownership, which is still the number one savings method in New Zealand, are left to do so through their own devices.

“Compared with the assistance being offered to students through proposals to have interest free loans, and the ultimate cost of that to the taxpayer, useful assistance to achieve first home ownership would be of comparatively lesser cost with considerably more benefit to our country.

“Where students are seen as a key target area for vote-catching, for some reason the potential homeowner seems to have fallen beneath the political radar,” he said.

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