Another frickin' housing backflip!

Christopher bloody Luxon has now announced his fourth major housing policy backflip as National party leader.

I say "announced," but since the pissweak pipsqueak is too pusillanimous to even consider openly putting his head above that particular parapet, he's instead allowed news of his latest flip-flop to leak out from the likes of the oleaginous Matthew Hooton.

Sadly, since most of those backflips have come when Luxon's party is in government, the big loser here is anyone who wants sufficient certainty to plan, build, lend on, borrow against or borrow to buy a house. Let alone several houses. Which means: Almost all of us.

Ever wondered why the Auckland residential construction industry is in a hole? One big reason is the hole in Luxon's head that swings from NIMBY to YIMBY like a weather vane in a storm —making him first abandon bipartisan agreement on housing intensification, then talk about "going for growth," then abandon that again, then talk up Auckland's planned intensification, and now, apparently, abandon it once again. If it's certainty you're after to plan and build, then this Prime Minister and his weather-vane brain is not doing much for you.

Asked for details this morning of his latest backflip, suggesting a reduction in the requirement for Auckland Council to zone for a minimum two-million sites, the pissant Prime Minister spoke to Radio NZ for eight minutes while saying effectively nothing beyond we'll all just have to wait and see. So there.

Asked if it would make a difference if the two-million housing figure was pulled back to 1.5 million, [Scott] Caldwell [from the Coalition for More Housing] said lowering the two-million figure would undermine the feasible capacity of new homes.

And so it will.

“Any pulling back would be compromising Auckland’s housing affordability,” he said.

Which it will.

Caldwell said constant back and forth over new planning rules for more housing since 2020 inevitably meant more delays, and it could be the 2030s before more houses were delivered.

Which is true.

“Waiting until 2035 to deliver real cost-of-living wins is a generation too late for those struggling to find affordable housing in our largest city,” he said.

Which it is.