The Green Party will push for "rent to buy'' schemes to be part of the pending reset of the KiwiBuild housing programme, party co-leader Marama Davidson told the party annual general meeting in Dunedin today.
"Rent-to-own is a simple solution that has been tried and tested overseas, and on a small scale here in New Zealand, by community providers such as the Housing Foundation and Habitat for Humanity,'' Ms Davidson said.
"We know that rent to own, done at scale, can be a game-changer for Aotearoa.''
The party would also seek reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act, and a mandatory Warrant of Fitness for rental homes, she said.
"The Green Party has the opportunity now, in Government, to do housing and urban design differently to build homes and communities, not just houses plonked on land.
"Housing is viewed as something left best to the market, instead of core public infrastructure . . . in order to move away from that profit-driven approach and to redefine housing, we need a complete reset.''
The rent-to-buy policy is part of the confidence and supply agreement between the Green Party and Labour, and Ms Davidson said it was work which had to be done, whether as part of the KiwiBuild reset or as a stand-alone policy.
The proposed scheme would see the Government build a home or work in partnership with an iwi, charity, or community housing provider. After taking possession the household would pay rent, with part of their payment going towards building equity in the home.
Ms Davidson envisaged that a combination of rental equity and KiwiSaver funds would mean households would eventually build up a large enough deposit to buy their home for themselves and take over a mortgage.
"This means that the household will take the step from renting, into home-ownership, supported by the Government,'' she said.
"This is not merely a short term patch it is a long term transformation . . . rent to own is an exciting solution that can offer a pathway to those locked out of home ownership, who are able to pay rent, but not enough to save for a deposit.''