9. PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) Link to this
to the Minister of Housing
Does he have confidence in the Housing New Zealand Corporation’s management of its housing stock?
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Housing) Link to this
Yes, because in the past year the Housing New Zealand Corporation has allocated houses to 10,000 families, it has upgraded more than 2,000 houses to make them drier and more energy efficient, and it has added more than 1,000 State homes to the housing network to meet demand, and because since July 2003 more than 1,500 tenants have been moved to smaller, more suitable houses, freeing up homes for larger families on the waiting list.
Why has the amount of damage done by Housing New Zealand Corporation tenants risen by a staggering 75 percent this year compared with last year, up from $6.9 million to $12.1 million, with a good part of this financial year still to go?
Social housing always presents any Government with challenges, but I am proud to say this Government is working very actively to provide decent homes for all New Zealanders.
Georgina BeyerPrior to 1999, was any programme in place to upgrade older State houses for modern living—for example, ensuring kitchens could accommodate basic appliances like fridges?
No; disturbingly, it appears that there was no programme in place under National. It took the Labour-led Government to introduce one, in 2001. Since then, 2,618 properties have been modernised—an example of the good stewardship occurring under this Government of the State’s second-largest physical asset.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
How many more houses would the Housing New Zealand Corporation management be managing were it not for the fact that a National Government, under Murray McCully, engaged in the wholesale sale of them; and is that not a reason for me to report the outcome of today’s question time as to the results, side by side, to the SPCA?
Madam SPEAKERI do not understand the second part of the question, but the Hon Chris Carter can answer the first part .
Gerry BrownleeI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. When are you going to ask a member of Mr Peters’ standing and long experience actually to ask a question that is reasonable? Time after time, you either turn his question down or, in fact, ask that part of it be left out—in other words, not answered—which does indicate that there are aspects of his question that fall outside the Standing Orders. Will there not be a time when you simply say the question cannot be answered? I would have to argue that that question was extremely thin in its relationship to the primary question.
The first part of the question seemed to me to be within the Standing Orders, and, as I have indicated, the Minister should address just that part. It is not for the Speaker to comment on the quality of questions, whether primary or supplementary questions—just to make sure they are within the Standing Orders.
I can report to this House that under the National Government 13,000 State houses were sold. Less than one-third of them were sold to tenants, and most were sold to speculators, who made a great deal of money out of them at the State’s expense.
Why has the amount of damage done by Housing New Zealand Corporation tenant guests risen by a staggering 73 percent this year compared with last year—up from $1.5 million to $2.6 million—with a good part of the financial year still to go?
The member seems to be confusing damage and repairs, and adding the figures together. What he is doing is trying to distort the figures that the Housing New Zealand Corporation has provided to him.
What is going on at the Housing New Zealand Corporation; the clientele has not changed, and by the Minister’s own admission the number of properties has gone up by only 2 percent, yet tenant damage and guest damage are set to double this year compared with last year—why are they getting so out of control?
The member makes a number of allegations that are manifestly false. He says, for example, that the number of State houses has gone up by only 2 percent; in fact, this Government has added 6,000 houses to the housing stock. What I can say is that the Housing New Zealand Corporation—
In the Minister’s answer to the first question he said that the number of State houses had gone up by 1,000 this last year. I referred to the number of houses going up by not more than 2 percent in the last year. There are about 60,000 houses, and 1,000 is certainly less than 2 percent. The Minister then abused me in the House, saying I have not got my facts correct, but they are laid out right before us—the number of houses did not go up by 2 percent in the last year, and vandalism is up by 75 percent.
I am not sure what the point of order was, but would the Minister please address the question. If we could have a little less rowdiness, then we might be able to hear the answer, and maybe that confusion would disappear.
As I said in my initial answer, the Government has added almost 1,000 houses in the last year. That might be only 2 percent of our existing total, but 1,000 houses is an enormous investment. I would like to remind the House again that Mr Heatley seems to be confusing repairs with damage. He is adding both figures together to give a distorted amount of money.
What ramifications will Maryan Street’s damage insurance bill, which forces landlords to insure tenants for damage caused by their guests, have for this country’s largest landlord, the Housing New Zealand Corporation?
It is the impact. That part of the question is in order. Would the Minister please address just that part.
The bill has not been passed yet, so we are still working through, at the moment, theoretical policy. But we are, of course, looking at it.
As the Housing New Zealand Corporation owns 15 percent of all rental properties, will not its atrocious performance at curbing vandalism drive up the insurance premiums—I am talking about Maryan Street’s bill—for every mum and dad landlord renting out a house?
That remains a very theoretical point. What I can say is that the Housing New Zealand Corporation is engaged in a very active programme of enhancing and modernising the housing stock, which, I remind this House again, is the State’s second-largest asset.