Housing Minister

PHOTO: Housing Minister Megan Woods and Finance Minister Grant Robertson. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas

The government is dampening down expectations of any major new housing measures in tomorrow’s Budget, saying it announced most of its plan in March.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson yesterday confirmed the Budget would contain “significant” funding for Māori housing, but beyond that, the details were scant.

“Clearly that was a very large package that we announced in March,” Robertson said.

“You’ll wait till Thursday to see what else is there, but that [package] is the cornerstone of our housing approach, certainly in this year.”

Housing Minister Megan Woods too bridled at questions over whether the Budget would contain a greater focus on housing supply.

“We’ve already had $5.8 billion worth of housing announcements. That’s not some,” Woods said.

Under pressure to cool the runaway housing market, the government unveiled a grab bag of initiatives in March, including an extension of the bright-line test and tougher tax rules for property investors.

The plan included a $3.8 billion fund to fast-track infrastructure and gave Kāinga Ora the green light to borrow another $2 billion to buy land for social housing.

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