National is promising to bring in a "dedicated pipeline of affordable housing for seniors" and to expand the rules around granny flats, and also wants to make it easier to build tiny homes.
The pipeline would ringfence 20% of places to seniors housing from the Housing Flexible Fund, a contestable social housing fund, which can include affordable rentals (like Abbeyfield) and social homes.
National leader Christopher Luxon said not every senior "can – or wants to – move to a retirement village."
"New Zealand needs many more low cost, affordable pensioner housing units and in government, National will step up to fund and deliver them," he said.
On granny flats, National promised to expand the rules, which would mean an attached garage of up to 40sqm in addition to the 70sqm granny flat would be allowed. They also want to speed up processing time, limit fees to cost recovery and to look into a new licensing class for builders to ensure quality construction.
Those rules would apply to tiny homes on wheels.
“We also want to increase housing choice for seniors," Luxon said.
"We know many families want to embrace inter-generational living, but councils make it too difficult. That is why we will expand our granny flat rules, making a range of red-tape cutting changes, including extending the policy to tiny homes.”
National also pledged to create a free helpline to help seniors with government services and support, to review the Enduring Powers of Attorney framework and to look at law changes to better protect seniors from economic harm.
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