Little promises to build 1000 state houses a year until demand is met

The Labour party has blown out the candles at its 100-year anniversary party, with leader Andrew Little putting 100,000 new affordable homes on his wish list.

At the final day of Labour's conference, Mr Little made his third housing policy announcement, telling the party faithful Labour would build 100,000 new homes for first home buyers if elected.

His speech was dominated by housing, calling out the government for siding with housing speculators, over first home buyers. 

"New Zealanders don't have time for National to come up with a housing policy that works," Mr Little says.

"[Labour] can fix it and Labour will fix it."

Labour would work with the private sector to develop the new houses.

"Working with the private sector and experts in fields like prefabrication, we can build standalone homes for $500,000-$600,000 in Auckland, with apartments and townhouses for less than $500,000."

"These homes won't be palaces but they will be modern, warm, and affordable first homes." 

As well as the new houses, he says Labour will be doing more to free up more land and will abolish the Auckland urban growth boundary that has been driving up the price of land, if elected.

"We’ll replace it with a smarter way to manage urban growth that will shut down the land bankers and speculators by cutting off their profits."

Mr Little says Labour would also set up an Affordable Housing Authority to deliver ambitious new urban development projects that would lead and master-plan the building of new communities and the revitalisation of old ones.

The authority will have a target to meet: 50% across all of the homes in its developments would have to be affordable.

Mr Little's announcement today follow a string of other housing-related policies.

Mr Little said on Thursday that, in government, Labour would provide 1400 extra accommodation places for the homeless.

It would come at a cost of $60 million to the taxpayer, but Mr Little says it would be enough to put a roof over the heads of 5100 homeless people a year.

Yesterday, Labour promised to turn Housing NZ (HNZ) into a public service government department and use the dividends received – which are now paid to the Crown – to build new homes. Mr Little says this could result in as many as 1000 new homes a year.

This financial year, HNZ is expecting to pay a $188 million dividend to the Crown. 

Former Labour cabinet minister and ACT Party leader Richard Prebble came out swinging against his former party this week, telling NBR Radio Labour has become “an anti-intellectual party.”

He was critical of its leader too, saying Mr Little is a “very unattractive leader.”

Political commentator Matthew Hooton was also been critical of Labour this week – telling NBR Radio the party is “fixated on its past and it seems to think that pleasing its extreme left-wing activist base and the union bosses in Wellington, with tales of nostalgia about Michael Joseph Savage and what was achieved in the 1930s, is the path forward for Labour.”

Labour's announcement today follows National's commitment to a $1 billion infrastructure development fast-track fund for councils to help address housing supply issues, which Prime Minister John Key unveiled last week.