Judith Collins - Housing and Urban Development

17 August 2018

Housing New Zealand turns down good houses

Housing New Zealand’s decision to only lease houses built since 2001 will be a disappointment for many tenants, National’s Housing spokesperson Judith Collins says.

“Turning down good homes on the basis they were built prior to 2000 is a short sighted decision because we all know the best houses are not necessarily the new houses.

“What about houses that were built a few decades or even a century ago?

“New Zealand has a good variety of housing stock like the villas and bungalows built in the early 1900s that are still being well maintained today.

“It is a shame these houses are going to be ignored just because of when they were built.

“The early 2000s was when many leaky homes were built. This means it will cost more for Housing New Zealand to either fix up the leaky homes or tenants will be leased an unfit home to live in.

“In the meantime the waiting list for a house under this Government is the highest it’s ever been.

“From the many broken promises around housing already, we know Housing Minister Phil Twyford is not good on detail and it seems like he has missed the mark on this one as well.

“He needs to rethink this dopey policy, it’s not always about the age of the house, it’s about the quality of the house.”

ends

© Scoop Media