The Government's introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa.
"This Government is well and truly in the pocket of landlords. This comes at the expense of people who rent their homes, who are paying a severe price," says Green Party Housing spokesperson Tamatha Paul.
"The Coalition parties have chosen to tip the balance completely in favour of those who own properties as investments, and against those who rent them as homes to live in.
"Housing is a human right. How are people supposed to start a stable home and settle down, raise families or enjoy retirement when they are constantly in fear that their landlord might kick them out for no reason?
"No-cause evictions will create housing insecurity for thousands of renters, with the power to push people out of their homes being left to the whim of a landlord. Requiring landlords to provide a solid reason as to why they're evicting their tenants was a step towards evening the playing field between renters and landlords.
"The housing crisis is real and we will need real solutions to address it. The Government is once again favouring profit over evidence as it pursues yet another policy that has been tried, tested and proven to fail.
"In New Zealand, we have a mega-landlord Prime Minister, and we have a Government made up of landlords. What we are seeing is politicians serving their own interests to the detriment of everybody else.
"This is a move by a Government so completely out of touch with the reality of the people. This increased housing insecurity for renters comes at a time when people are struggling under the cost of living. Not to mention, they're gearing up to sell and delay public housing build programmes which is the only other alternative to private rentals," says Tamatha Paul.
