Why do we punish those who do the most to help us?

Record high rents are crippling our people and this is the roll-on effect of penalising those who provide them with houses and food.

The war on farmers and now landlords is really a war on the people who have to struggle to pay for their rentals and their weekly grocery bill.

Landlords are providing a public service for those in need. Place too many regulations on them and we risk an even greater shortage of homes. "The government must rely on the private sector to provide increases in the private rental supply" says New Conservative housing spokesman Bruce Welsh. Recent policy changes have made things too difficult for a lot of landlords, so the supply is not increasing as it should, instead more landlords will exit the housing market because it is becoming uneconomic for them.

The way to affordable housing is more housing not more regulations on landlords.

More than a quarter of landlords have raised rents due to recent regulatory changes.   New Conservative believes regulations must be reasonable and people should be encouraged to invest in rentals.  Economist Brad Olsen says the problem is simply a matter of supply and demand. New Conservative says simple measures can be put in place to address the supply problem. Free up land for new housing. Cut red tape and cost around new housing consents. Make approvals faster and simpler, and reduce the resource consent bureaucracy. The government also needs to help make it easier for new Zealanders to let properties, not more difficult for them.