8. LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) Link to this
to the Minister of Housing
What further steps has the Government taken to address housing affordability?
Hon MARYAN STREET (Minister of Housing) Link to this
From 1 July, under the shared equity pilot, eligible households can apply for an interest-free loan on a house of between 5 and 30 percent of its value. This is another Labour-led Government initiative that, like Welcome Home Loans and KiwiSaver, will help New Zealanders into their first homes.
Hon MARYAN STREET Link to this
I have seen various reports from real estate agents describing the scheme as “a fantastic initiative” and “very encouraging” for first-home buyers, while a spokesperson for the Salvation Army has said: “I think there is such a demand for this that it will prove a huge success.”
Sue BradfordDoes the Minister have any plans at all to increase the number of State houses available in the Gisborne area, given that there are absolutely desperate people on the waiting list who are being told that there will be no appropriate houses available in the foreseeable future?
Hon MARYAN STREET Link to this
We are constantly looking to increase the numbers of State houses, particularly those in areas where there is the greatest need.
Does the Government have any plans at all for dealing with the problem of people living in very poor accommodation that is often totally unsanitary and at a standard no one in this House could, in some cases, even imagine, and in houses that are comparable to slums in the Third World, particularly in rural and provincial New Zealand where there does not seem to be any great attempt to increase the supply of Housing New Zealand Corporation houses or third sector community-based housing?
Hon MARYAN STREET Link to this
There is an ongoing work stream in the Housing New Zealand Corporation to address issues of rural housing provision. It is true that there is some substandard housing in rural areas, and we are working to address that.
Phil HeatleyWhy should Nelson be pleased when its shared equity criteria means that its population formula will help only 19 Nelson people—that is, 19 people over 2 years—that it allows only homes under $240,000, and one cannot find one of those in Nelson, and that people still have to stump up with 90 percent of the house cost as Nelson’s limit helps with only 10 percent of the cost?
Hon MARYAN STREET Link to this
First of all, Nelson is an expensive place to live. Again, if that member wanted to do some homework, he might look at the most recent Nelson real estate magazines and find that there is something in the order of 60 properties within the range of the shared equity pilot available in Nelson.
Why has the shared equity scheme so stunningly under-delivered, when, with 12 rehashed announcements since 2004, it was so stunningly over-promised?
Madam SPEAKERPlease be seated. There is a convention that points of order come at the end of supplementary questions. However, the member did start his point of order, so we will finish it and then take the supplementary question.
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
In the interests of parliamentary question time resembling in quality something akin to a First World democracy, would the Minister insist, when she hears that question from that Minister, on receiving some evidence of what he predicates his question on, because he has a habit of getting up and saying a whole lot of mindless things of the nature of what he just said—that is, that not one house conformed to Housing New Zealand Corporation criteria, even though property real estate is full of that—and then, in the next question, he repeated another falsehood, which is frankly a waste of Parliament’s time?
Rt Hon Winston Peters Link to this
That is a fair question, and the Minister should be allowed to answer it.
Please be seated. I rule the question out of order because it is not within ministerial responsibility; it is more of a matter of debate.
Gerry BrownleeI raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My point of order was going to deal with that. But while I am on my feet I would, perhaps, ask you to seek—[ Interruption]
But not today, I have noticed. So from now on I ask members to please observe silence during points of order.
Madam Speaker, I wonder whether you might seek from Mr Peters clarification of the information that Phil Heatley has been made a Minister, and whether, in fact, he knows something that we do not.
I seek leave to table Nelson’s average house cost of $325,000—almost $100,000 more than the Minister’s top price of $240,000.