"Market forces" will not resolve housing crisis: state intervention needed (pn711)

Many thanks to Bryce Edwards for this.  I think he's hit the nail on the head. There is no way the housing crisis will be solved by market forces; it also requires government intervention, particularly by building many, many more state houses.  A similar view is expressed by Chris Trotter in his attack on  the supposedly independent but most obviously the right wing think tank NZ Initiatives, which is also a "must read":   

Only the most hardened veterans of the Rogernomics Revolution continue to insist that New Zealanders should trust “the market” to resolve a housing crisis ripping apart their country’s weakest and most vulnerable communities.'

Read on for the Edwards article.

Sticks and Carrots to help the housing market (pn705)

With Government due to make a major housing policy announcement next week, Jeneé Tibshraeny discusses some stick and carrot options in interest.co.nz while Finance Minister Grant Robertson says the policy package will include a “mixture of both incentives to go [invest] elsewhere and disincentives within the housing system.” and  Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr said people need to look for “alternative places to invest.. We didn’t say, go out there and buy only homes."

pn581. We need more state houses

 

This article from No Right Turn is critical of Labour's policy.

How bad is the housing crisis? This bad:

For the first time over 20,000 households are on the Government’s waitlist for public housing.

By the end of August 20,385 eligible households were on the waitlist for state or social housing, with over 18,000 ranked as “priority A” – the most needy.

This compared to 19,438 the month before and