Last budget the government put up the accommodation supplement – against the advice of Treasury who said that landlords would capture the cash. In this context it’s useful to have some data on the current supplement:
Landlords getting accommodation supplement
Nine in 10 people getting the government accommodation supplement are passing the money on to their landlords.
Just 11 per cent of those receiving the welfare payment own their own home, according to Ministry for Social Development figures obtained by NZ Newswire.
When challenged on the budget U-turn and the risk of landlord capture the best that Steven Joyce could manage was to lamely suggest that government would be “keeping an eye” on landlords. Makes a wet bus ticket looks scary doesn’t it.
Here’s Bill English’s response to the figures above:
Mr English said the increase in the supplement would put cash directly in the pockets of tenants and denied it would be an opportunity for landlords to gouge more money on rents.
“The landlords can’t just stick up rents any time they want, although there has been pressure on rents lately,” he said.
“Tenants can have other choices.”
Tenants have other choices? Does he know anything at all about the current rental market?
Landlords can’t put up rents? What virtual reality does English inhabit?
But Mr Little said landlords can and are putting up rents, with increases for seven per cent across the country and up to 12 per cent in some cities.
We need a PM that lives in the real world.
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