Funds pledged for 6400 state homes

The Government is committing to building at least 6400 new state and social homes over the next four years, in Budget 2018.

That is 600 more homes each year than the 1000 promised during the election – but below the 2000-a-year Housing Minister Phil Twyford told media he was fighting for. It will bring the total number of homes to just under 73,000 by 2022.

Along with $234 million of new funding, Housing NZ will borrow $2.9 billion to meet this pledge, and invest $900m from its own operations.

The previous National government was also promising to build a lot more state and communitybased social housing, getting to a total of 72,000 by 2020, or about 7500 homes over three years from 2017, but the new Government contends this promise was not yet fully funded.

Finance Minister Grant Rob- ertson said, after years of selling state homes, National suddenly decided in its last year of government to build a whole lot more – and that promise should have been ‘‘taken with a grain of salt’’.

Twyford said National had reduced the net social housing stock by 1500 in the middle of the crisis, so he would ‘‘trust them on their nine years in office, not their press releases’’.

‘‘Their promise wasn’t funded properly.

‘‘It was simply an aspiration. ‘‘We’re delivering a fully funded commitment,’’ Twyford said. As of late March, 7890 eligible households were waiting an average of 64 days for a public house. Most tenants in public housing pay an income-related rent, which limits the total rent to a quarter of their income.

Twyford’s centrepiece housing policy is KiwiBuild, which was funded $2.1b in the Government’s mini-Budget in December.

Budget 2018 also includes an extra $33.6m over four years for Tenancy Services.

Another $170m will be spent over four years increasing ‘‘transitional housing’’, which provides short-term housing for people with immediate need.

This is expected to add another 200 places.

The Energy and Efficiency and Conservation Authority will receive $142.5m for a new scheme to help lower-income owneroccupied households insulate and warm their homes.

Just over $15m will be spent on implementing and monitoring the Healthy Homes Guarantees Act, which sets minimum standards for tenancies’ insulation and warmth.

The Ministry of Social Development will also get a further $30m over the next four years to fund its frontline housing services, while Housing NZ’s Community Group Housing service for higher-need clients will get a $13.7m top-up.

‘‘These Budget 2018 announcements are on top of the $2.1b committed in the December 2017 mini-Budget as capital and operating funding for the KiwiBuild programme and to set up the Housing Commission,’’ Twyford said. ‘‘The single most important thing the Government can do to solve the housing crisis is to build more affordable homes.

‘‘The best way to tackle homelessness is to build more public housing.’’