Labour’s pin up example for a needy first home buyer

Labour did a photo op yesterday with an aspiring first home buyer who now can’t buy his first home because of the Reserve Bank’s new LVRs. Labour has promised to destroy the independence of the Reserve Bank by stating it will instruct the Bank to exempt aspiring first home buyers from the new rules (despite the Reserve Bank saying they won’t work if you do that).

So who was the aspiring first home buyer they highlighted to show how his or her dreams had been crushed after presumably years of saving for a first home so they can live in it.

Labour leader David Cunliffe met would-be first-time buyer Kanik Mongia, 23, in central Auckland today.

He’s 23? Labour’s pin up child for being locked out of the property market is a 23 year old? Someone who has probably been in the work force for just two years?

Mr Mongia, an IT consultant was looking at properties in the $400,000 to $500,000 range in south Auckland or Mt Wellington.

Tell me Labour are joking? their big photo op was with a 23 year old wanting to buy a half million dollar house? This is their rationale for wanting to destroy the independence of the Reserve Bank?

“If it’s good enough I could live in it, otherwise it could be an investment property.”

It gets worse for Labour. He wants it as an investment property!!!!

Mr Mongia said he has been looking for four or five months and has enough saved for a 10 per cent deposit.

Okay so let’s look at this in full. Labour is proposing to destroy the independence of the Reserve Bank so 23 year olds can buy half million dollar investment properties with a mere 10% deposit?

Now all credit to Kanik Mongia. It’s great he has saved even $50,000 by age 23, and great he wants to buy a house so early on. But when we talk about housing affordability and propose radical solutions such as having the Government over-ride the Reserve Bank, then you need a much much much stronger case than the fact that someone may have to wait until they are 24 to buy their first investment property.

UPDATE: Love the irony in this Stuff story:

Labour leader David Cunliffe ramped up pressure on the Government with a public meeting with Kanik Mongia, 23, an IT consultant, who had mortgage pre-approval for a 90 per cent loan cancelled by ASB because of the LVR changes. He was seeking $450,000 for an investment property.

Cunliffe said there was need to cool the property market, especially in places like Auckland, but the new lending rules would have “unintended consequences” on first home buyers.

“Unfortunately they are taking it out on the hide of first home buyers like Kanik, and that’s not what we want. We want young people to be able to get into their homes and we don’t want young speculators driving prices through the roof,” he said.

I’m sorry, but this is as big a fail as you can get.