Our 2011 election manifesto - Labour Party

Labour will work with local authorities to ensure that new housing developments are
closely connected with other core infrastructure to reduce the costs of the
development.
Inclusionary Zoning
Regulatory policies are often neglected as potential tools for an affordable housing policy
because they do not directly subsidise either housing units or households.
There are several ways to encourage housing affordability through zoning. One of these is
inclusionary zoning which allows local authorities to require a proportion of land or housing in
a development to be set-aside for social or affordable housing, or an equivalent payment
made that can then be used for affordable housing initiatives.
This provides an effective and low-cost way for local authorities to encourage affordable
housing production.
Labour will work with local government to develop legislation which gives them the
ability to increase the amount of social and affordable housing in new housing
developments.
Labour will ensure that all developments on Crown land such as Hobsonville include
a percentage of social and affordable housing.
Improving access to home ownership
Part of the affordability problem is assisting those into first home ownership who struggle to
meet lending criteria, whether it be because they cannot save the required deposit or more
complex issues such as building on Māori multiply owned land. If housing affordability was a
cyclical problem then such initiatives would be all that was needed. However as we will
discuss later, the problem is structural, so while these initiatives to improve access are
important, they are not the whole solution.
Welcome Home Loan Package
The Welcome Home loan package introduced by Labour in 2003 and allows moderateincome
families the ability to apply for publicly-funded mortgage insurance with a Welcome
Home loan.
This reduces the deposit a first-home buyer needs. It means eligible Kiwis can borrow up to
$200,000 without needing a deposit and if they do have one, up to either $280,000 or
$350,000 depending on where you will be buying.
Welcome Home loans have already helped over 5,402 families into their first home. In the
2011/12 financial year the Welcome Home loan is expected to cost $9.1 million, with 1,900
loans being accessed.
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