Foreign investment is only a plus when it is considered with full scrutiny and it delivers real benefits for New Zealanders and the economy. It should be on our terms, just as it is in so many other countries, who put their people’s needs first.
When the government capitulated without argument to the global dictate to allow foreign ownership, it demonstrated how out of touch it is with Kiwis stuck in the rental market.
New Zealand is moving away from what former National Prime Minister Keith Holyoake described as “a property owning democracy”. We can no longer ban foreign ownership of our property, be it houses or land; now the government has agreed to the TPPA.
According to one Cabinet Minister, there’s no crime in allowing the world to come property shopping in New Zealand. But there are so many Kiwis in the queue waiting to buy a home there’s hardly a need to add more offshore buyers. That’s just making it tougher for Kiwis by pushing the sale price up in a climate where demand is high and supply is low.
Foreign buyers flush with money, a favourable exchange rate and much lower interest rates and have all the advantage over Kiwis.
The government seem oblivious to the situation of many Kiwis becoming frustrated and depressed because they can’t achieve the Kiwi dream of home ownership.
New Zealand First believes a ban on property sales to foreigners is needed urgently to take the heat out of the Auckland housing bubble and stop the grab for our farms and export business.
New Zealanders have a right to own our own destiny and would-be homeowners have a right to go on the property ladder—not to be neglected by the government.