1. Question No. 1—Housing and Urban DevelopmentHon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura) to the Minister of Housing and Urban DevelopmentORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Housing and Urban Development1. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura) to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development: For which KiwiBuild developments were all dwellings already under construction at the time an underwrite was signed and for which KiwiBuild developments were some of the dwellings already under construction at the time an underwrite was signed?Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Housing and Urban Development): Thank you Mr Speaker. I'm advised that it takes approximately three to nine months between when a developer approaches KiwiBuild and when a contract is signed. To avoid delays developers often continue their work while the ministry undertakes the appropriate due diligence when negotiations take place. I'm advised that no developments had all their homes under construction at the time the underwrite was signed. I'm also advised that when the Northlake Dignity Street and Mike Greer Homes underwrites were signed there were some homes under construction.Hon Judith Collins: Why is he not aware that 10 houses he underwrote in Whangarei's Kotātā Heights were also under construction before he underwrote them?SPEAKER: Underwritten I think but carry on.Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I didn't include those in the answer to my primary question because they are not part of the underwrite.Hon Judith Collins: Why did he underwrite 10 apartments in Ōtāhuhu when Auckland Council documents show all 10 of the apartments were under construction before the 2017 election?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Because those are not covered by the underwrite. Hon Judith Collins: Is he telling the House that he has just bought them?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: They were purchased off the plans as part of the KiwiBuild scheme.Hon Judith Collins: How can they be purchased off the plans if they were already built?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Because they were included in the plans at the time that they were built. The KiwiBuild buying off the plans scheme is working with developers to build affordable housing that was never built let alone planned or considered under the last Government. We are working with the private sector to provide affordable homes to first-home buyers and it's working.Hon Judith Collins: Is he aware that six months—SPEAKER: Order! I'll remind members in the back corner that my hearing is better than it used to be and I could generally hear Mr Bishop anyway.Hon Judith Collins: Thank you Mr Speaker. Is he aware that six months before the last election 16 of the Ōtāhuhu apartments were already pre-sold for less than $440000 while the cheapest KiwiBuild price in the same apartment development is now $550000?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Now that is an example of just how fast house prices were going up under the former National Government.Hon Judith Collins: Does he have Cabinet authority to underwrite houses that are already built?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I have Cabinet authority to underwrite homes that produce hundreds of new affordable homes that are available to first-home buyers. The underwrite reduces the financing costs and risk. It reduces the profit margins of builders and developers and it makes more affordable homes available to first-home buyers. The policy's working.SPEAKER: Order! The member will answer the question.Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Yes I have Cabinet authority to do what the member asked. I included that in the first answer Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: No no the member didn't actually.Hon Judith Collins: How can it be that he says he is adding to the housing stock when some of these houses were built before the last election?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Because the totality of the deal with each developer includes a large number of affordable homes that otherwise would not have been built. Hon Judith Collins: Does he stand by his answers to written questions where he states that of the 74 KiwiBuild homes reported as completed more than half were already under construction before he signed an underwrite agreement in order to get construction started on them?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Yes I stand by my answers.