8. Hon MARK GOSCHE (Labour—Maungakiekie) Link to this
to the Minister of Housing
What reports has he received about support for affordable housing?
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Housing) Link to this
I have seen reports of a speech given in Auckland over the weekend claiming to support the “home-ownership aspirations of everyday New Zealanders”. Curiously, I have also seen a report from the same person that described Housing New Zealand Corporation’s Hobsonville development, where 15 percent of the 3,000 new homes being built will be reserved for first home owners, as “economic vandalism”. It seems that John Key supports affordable housing as long as it is not in his own electorate.
I am advised that the construction of a very large mansion in St Stephens Avenue in Parnell, a home that a number of members opposite are very familiar with, required two sections to be merged so that the large house could be built, and that it required the shifting of a third house in order to make way for an all-weather tennis court. It is good for some people.
Phil HeatleyWhy is it that today the average price for a bare section is $175,000, when that exact figure purchased a house plus a section when Labour first came to Government?
As every person in this House will be aware, house prices do move up—particularly in good times. What I can report is that at the moment a considerable amount of empty land contained within the metropolitan urban limit is being sat on by property speculators.
I have seen reports, grandly called “a concrete plan for making housing more affordable”, advocating the gutting of the Resource Management Act, the hocking-off of State houses, and the deregulation of the building industry. Many of those policies were inflicted on New Zealanders in the 1990s by a National Government, and they led to entrenched poverty, the rise of Third World diseases, the emergence of leaky homes, and far fewer Kiwis owning their own homes. It seems that National has learnt nothing from the past.
Pita ParaoneTēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Does the Minister agree that if policies to address housing affordability concentrate on demand-side issues and fail to address immigration—a key driver of house prices—then housing will continue to become increasingly unaffordable for many New Zealanders; if not, why not?
What I can record is that we are building record numbers of houses. But we are not building affordable houses, and the Government is moving rapidly to address that issue.
Tariana TuriaKia ora, Madam Speaker. Tēnā tātou katoa. What action has been taken following the report Māori Housing Experiences: Emerging Trends and Issues by the Centre for Housing Research, Aotearoa New Zealand, which recommended that the Government should employ the multibillion-dollar asset base of Housing New Zealand to borrow responsibly on the money markets, for the purpose of developing affordable homes for low and middle income families?
The Government is addressing the question of affordable homes in a variety of ways. One of those is providing rental accommodation through income-related rents for our tenants, one-third of whom are of Māori origin. In addition to that, we have a very active programme of repairing rural houses and providing initiatives, with third sector groups such as iwi groups, to create housing opportunities outside our urban centres.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question related to affordable houses for individuals and families, not to rental accommodation.
Madam SPEAKERI think the Minister addressed it; it was not clear from the question what sort of housing it was about. I do not know whether the Minister wants to add anything.
I took it that affordable housing included rental accommodation, but for homeownership we have the Welcome Home Loan scheme, which almost 3,000 people have now accessed; we have signalled that we are piloting a shared equity scheme; and we have a major initiative in providing affordable housing that will be announced before Christmas.
Why does he ignore the housing supply in Auckland report that his own agency commissioned, which says the RMA process needs a revamp, and also says land availability is a constraining factor; why does he ignore those issues, and make out that Hobsonville and a cute little shared equity scheme for the lucky few will be of any use to the hundreds of thousands of families across New Zealand who cannot afford their first home?
I am interested in any scheme that will deliver affordable housing for New Zealanders. I am not interested in clichés and failed policies. I would like to quote the Taranaki Daily News, which said last weekend “Mr Key offered platitudes and vagaries, political smoke and mirrors, and you can’t buy a house with that.”
I seek leave to table today’s bare section prices, which are greater than house and section prices in 2006.
I seek leave to table the Government’s Auckland housing report, criticising the Resource Management Act and recommending sensible land release.
I seek leave to table an editorial from the Taranaki Daily News that is headlined “Key plan built on a house of cards”.
I seek leave to table an article from the Waikato Times that says that the Opposition has sensationalised its criticisms and that it is mischievous and illogical.
I seek leave to table an article from the New Zealand Herald describing the redevelopment by the Housing New Zealand Corporation in the Glen Innes area, and saying “State houses become stately homes”.