Leaked documents reveal that the Government’s state housing arm is a basket case, casting serious doubt on the Government’s ability to meet its state house commitments, National’s Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“Documents leaked to National show that Kāinga Ora is a mess, with market debt set to hit over $20 billion by June 2026, a $4 billion blow-out on previous projections. Kāinga Ora is still projected to be paying off debt in 60 years, with forecasts showing $9 billion outstanding as late as 2081.

“Kāinga Ora’s net deficit is projected to get as high as $662 million for 2023/24, significantly more than the $152 million actual deficit in 2020/21.

“Kāinga Ora is a basket case. In the last four years, Kāinga Ora has spent a staggering $24 million on its own office renovations and hired 1,700 additional staff, and these documents show they plan to hire an additional 485 more staff by June 2023.

“Despite this, Kāinga Ora has added just 21 net new state homes in the year from June 2021 to May 2022.

“The Government’s promise to deliver 18,000 public and transitional homes by 2024 must be in serious doubt. Documents show that officials doubt Kāinga Ora will reach this target unless there is a 'significant uplift in delivery'.

“Based on Kāinga Ora’s track record to date, that 'uplift in delivery' simply won’t happen.

“Labour gave Kāinga Ora a blank cheque book, and this mess is the result.

“Labour has failed on housing. KiwiBuild is a sham, the state house waitlist is up to 27,000 people, and 4500 families are living in motels at the cost of $1 million per day.”

Attached: HUD advice on Kāinga Ora financial sustainability

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