Maori have been offered no deposit home loans to help them get into housing but will they benefit in the long run?
Housing spokesperson and Māori Party co-leader, Tariana Turia, is proud that another key milestone in the Māori Party's policy manifesto has been achieved with the Housing Minister's announcement of a new home ownership product called Kāinga Whenua.
"Our policy priority was to resource iwi and Māori organisations to develop sustainable housing initiatives" said Mrs Turia. "This came from our recognition that Māori often have the land but not the income to service borrowing" said Mrs Turia. "We were particularly keen to encourage investment in multiply owned land, so that Māori would be able to experience home ownership on their own papakāinga".
With this new initiative, it was reported that 180 loans are expected to be offered under the scheme in its first year however, it was also reported that there are 10,000 people on Housing New Zealand’s waiting list.
Fundamentally flawed? Looks that way doesn’t it.
It has been well documented that I am an advocate for leasehold land to make housing more affordable and although this is a similar approach, I feel the government could have done more, a lot more simply by leaving it to The Ministry of Maori Development (Te Puni Kokiri).
As Mrs Turia said, Maori often have the land but not the income to service borrowing. Based on that statement a feel a loan with a low interest rate funded by Te Puni Kokiri or another Maori body would have been a more practical solution.
Housing would be more affordable, for a lot more than 180, if the government and or councils worked in tandem with developers to make land available for a nominal lease to all standing in line waiting for affordable housing. As potential homeowners wouldn’t be paying over inflated land costs only the building cost, the actual cost of ownership would in many cases be halved.
I urge those that think the offer tabled is a workable solution to take a closer look as it is fundamentally flawed and in my opinion no more than brownie point gathering.
If the government truly see this option as the way forward for Maori, I have some serious doubts about their ability to lead us into greener pastures.
Brian Dalley is a leading Property Consultant | former NZMBA Mortgage Broker, and Real Estate Agent.
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