Policy polarisation impact on mortgage adviser and property investor vote

The difference in housing policies between Labour and National is a divide so deep it will take years to untangle.

During the past six years of the Labour’s turn at the helm, it has taken away the ability for investors to use mortgage interest payments against rental income for tax deduction purposes, extended the Brightline test to 10 years, banned no-cause rental terminations, limited rent increases to once a year, introduced Healthy Homes legislation, increased tax on trusts, which many investors use to hold property assets, and allowed three units of three storeys high each on almost any residential section across the country without resource consent.

National has vowed if it is elected it will reinstate the tax deduction on investment property, pull the Brightline test back to two years, reverse no-cause terminations and the near-automatic rollover of fixed term tenancies into periodic tenancies, and pull out of the bi-partisan agreement with Labour on housing intensification. It also intends to push for more greenfields development.

Polarisation in policies