Tēna koe Prime Minister,

Our homes are where we share kai with whānau, where we teach our children to walk and talk, where we shelter, and where we recover our health. 

Over the past year, landlords have hiked up rental prices like never before, making it harder for people to afford other essentials such as healthy food and heating in winter. 

Despite having so much power over the lives of their fellow New Zealanders, landlords are operating in an almost entirely unregulated system. Successive governments have stood by and done little to change this, instead watching as rents became less and less affordable. 

We should not, and must not, do the same. 

Working together we can rebalance the rental market in favour of the people who just want to put down roots and make a home for themselves and their families. 

We urge you to immediately freeze rents as an interim measure while we work together on a permanent plan to strengthen rent controls - including limits on annual rent increases and linking rents to what previous tenants paid. 

Right now, nearly half of all people in Aotearoa rent their home from a landlord. We urge you to make their lives more affordable by backing our plan to ensure renters and their families can put an affordable roof over their heads, make ends meet, and stay in their communities. 

A decent, affordable home is a human right. Let’s make it a reality. 

Ngā mihi nui,

Marama Davidson and James Shaw
Green Party Co-leaders

 

 

Supported by: 

If you would like your organisation to publically support this letter, we'd love to hear from you. Get in contact by emailing [email protected]

 

Read more about what we're proposing here