4. Question No. 4—HousingNICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 4—Housing4. NICOLA WILLIS (Deputy Leader—National) to the Minister of Housing: By what amount if any have both the median rent and the demand for social housing increased since the Government announced its housing package in March 2021? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): The Government's March 2021 housing package included a range of demand and supply side measures to increase the supply of housing. This was to address a housing crisis that was decades in the making. On the supply side we simply weren't building enough houses—which has been a major driver of increasing rents. According to Stats New Zealand median rent increased 4.7 percent between March 2021 and December 2021. And the Housing Register has increased by 1838 applications between March 2021 and December 2021. I do however note for the member that there is a wide regional variation in the rent increases we have seen. For example in Auckland where we have seen a strong increase in supply rents were limited to a 2.4 percent increase. This shows that where we increase supply there will be more moderate rent increases. We know that this is a housing crisis that cannot be solved overnight but we are continuing to see some of the initial green shoots of positive change from our Government's housing policies. But we know there is more work to do and we'll continue taking action to get more houses built. Nicola Willis: Can she confirm that according to the most recent Government rental data in the past year median weekly rents have increased by $50—the biggest annual increase since records began?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I indicated in the answer to the primary question when we look at the Stats New Zealand figures—which are the figures that I will look at—we saw for the period that the member is talking about between March and December of last year a 4.7 percent median increase. But if we are to truly understand where the solutions to fixing our housing crisis lie we have to look at the regional variation and where we can see where more supply is coming on such as in Auckland that we are holding rental increases to 2.4 percent. We cannot ignore that.Nicola Willis: Does she recall receiving advice from housing officials in January last year warning that the Government's proposed housing tax changes could have a negative impact on renters particularly those on lower incomes"; and does she regret the impact her policies are having on renters?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I remember receiving the advice on 22 December very well because it was put in my summer reading bag. This was advice that was at the initial stages of policy development that pointed out that if we did not do something to incentivise the bringing on of new supply of housing then we could possibly see an increase in rent. Of course as the package announced in March 2021 showed our Government did take heed of that advice and put in place mitigations by putting in place a 20-year exemption for new-build rental properties into that. So I recall it very well. I also recall myself and the Minister of Finance discussing it fully along with our Cabinet colleagues to come up with real solutions to a housing crisis. Nicola Willis: Is it the Minister's position that the Government's housing package in March has been effective when renters are now paying $50 more a week for their housing and does she think that is acceptable?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I indicated in the answer to the primary question we are beginning to see the green shoots of the Government's action in the area of housing. When we look at the evidence and where we can see that there were rental increases constrained to 2.4 percent in Auckland over the period under question compared to some parts of the North Island that had 8 percent increases we can see that bringing on new supply is absolutely critical to a Government addressing the housing crisis and that is what we are doing. It is why we geared aspects of the March package towards ensuring that we could bring on supply in places other than metropolitan centres. It is exactly what the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund is about. I encourage the member to look at the evidence rather than the soundbites.Nicola Willis: Was the Associate Minister of Housing correct when she stated last week that in response to rent increases "There are a whole lot of proposals that are being floated at the moment including things like rent control and indexation … There is nothing off the table."; and if so why did the Prime Minister state yesterday "We are not considering rent controls."?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Our Cabinet consistently looks at what we can do to help people who are renting whether that be by incentivising the bringing on of new supply of housing because we do not want mum and dad property investors competing with their kids in the suburbs; we actually want property investors and developers to be part of solving the housing crisis. So both the Prime Minister and the Associate Minister of Housing were absolutely correct that we continually do what we can to aid renters. But we are an evidence-driven Government and when we look at the evidence that the best way to control rent is to bring on the supply of new housing we look at that 2.4 percent increase in Auckland—that is where we're addressing our energy."