10. Question No. 10—HousingNICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 10—Housing10. NICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Minister of Housing: How many KiwiBuild homes that have been sold off the plans" have had their estimated completion date delayed from the date that was communicated to buyers at the time of sale and will KiwiBuild homes continue to be sold "off the plans"?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): Talofa lava Mr Speaker. Seventy-two homes have had a delay of more than six months while an additional 123 have a delay of between one and six months. These houses are all within developments with contracts signed prior to the KiwiBuild reset that I announced last December. I do also note that there are 91 homes ahead of schedule. As frustrating as it can be it's not unusual for construction projects to experience delays—for instance NZ LAW advises people considering purchases off the plans that projects often "take years to complete and delays can and do happen". If the member is referring to the Monark development in Wellington which constitutes 44 of the 72 properties delayed by six months I can confirm that this is a development arrangement that is no longer used by KiwiBuild. The agreement was signed prior to the KiwiBuild reset announced in September last year and KiwiBuild houses at this development were marketed and sold before confirmation of a construction contract. When I first heard about this delay in December last year I had huge sympathy for the first-home buyers who had secured these KiwiBuild homes but now face delays. In response I instructed officials to ensure that no further KiwiBuild houses are to be sold off the plans prior to the developer having funding confirmed. In answer to the second part of the question yes.Nicola Willis: What will she do to help the 44 KiwiBuild buyers in Wellington's delayed Monark development?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The contracts are not with KiwiBuild; they are with the developer. But as I made publicly clear yesterday there are a number of purchasers who the developer has released prior to the sunset clause arriving. If those people want to get in touch with my office I am more than happy to put them in touch with the developer.Nicola Willis: Will she do anything to help these first-home buyers other than passing on the contact details of the property developer?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I said this is an arrangement that is no longer used within KiwiBuild but what I would like to point out is that these are 44 first-home buyers that are still looking at the delivery of a first home via KiwiBuild. I will put our record of delivering affordable homes over the Opposition when they were in Government who delivered 100 affordable homes through the special housing units in the nine long years that they were in Government.Nicola Willis: How many KiwiBuild homes have been built?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I'd like to advise the new Opposition spokesperson for housing for the National Party that there is a very informative monthly dashboard that is published that tells you all this information. The latest dashboard will tell her there have been 395 Kiwi homes built.Nicola Willis: Will KiwiBuild purchasers in the Monark development be required to live in their homes for three years before selling them?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: That will depend on the typology of the home because of course when we did the reset in September that was altered for studio and one-bedroom apartments so it will depend on the type of apartment they have purchased.Nicola Willis: Will she ensure that KiwiBuild buyers in the delayed Monark development can get their deposits back prior to June 2022?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: These are contracts that have been entered into. I am not going to stand in Parliament as a Minister and say that I am going to unpick contracts. What I have advised the purchasers to do is to speak to the developer. Some have been released but I do note that I received communication this morning from someone who is a purchaser in the Monark development who understands there is a delay and is still committed to the very good apartment that he is going to have there. So not all people want release from these contracts."