New Zealand scraps target for 100,000 affordable homes

New Zealand, facing a shortage of affordable housing, scrapped its target to build 100,000 homes in 10 years as "overly ambitious" on Wednesday and reset some policies for grappling with what it calls a crisis. Housing Minister Megan Woods unveiled measures that include a NZ$400 million ($256 million) funding for ownership schemes like rent-to-buy and shared equity, which allow families to buy chunks of a mortgage until they own a home outright. In June, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern replaced her housing minister and appointed a team of senior officials to fix New Zealand's housing problems after Kiwibuild, the government's flagship project for adding 100,000 homes, missed several deadlines. As of Sept. 4, the number of homes built was 258, according to Kiwibuild's website.