Hayes John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hayes John: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 27 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6757. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
1. 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What steps is the Government taking to address the long-standing problem of housing affordability in New Zealand? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Acting Minister of Finance) 
: 
 The Government—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The Minister has barely uttered a word and the interjections are unreasonable. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: They do not want to hear. The Government recently set out its plan— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Does business dress involve having one’s collar— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! [ 
Interruption 
] Order! That is enough. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! The House will come to order. It has been noisy all day so far today. [ 
Interruption 
] It seems like all day because it has been so noisy. We do not need that kind of point of order. I call the Hon Steven Joyce. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Thanks mum! The Government recently set out its plan to improve housing affordability in its response to the Productivity Commission’s comprehensive 320-page report on the same subject. The Government will work with councils to increase land supply both greenfield and brownfield; reduce the delays costs and uncertainties of the Resource Management Act including introducing a 6-month time limit on medium-sized consents; improve infrastructure provision; and improve productivity in the construction sector. The plan builds on progress already made in housing including the Resource Management Act reforms in 2010 for faster decisions streamlining of the Auckland Unitary Plan and the Government’s ongoing and substantial investment in social housing. 
John Hayes 
: How will the Government’s plan improve housing affordability in New Zealand? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The Government’s view is that you cannot fix housing affordability without fixing the underlying drivers of cost. That is why the Government’s plan targets red tape and low productivity which are tying up house construction. In addition to freeing up land and improving construction sector productivity officials have been directed to look at developing a performance monitoring regime for local government and introducing a single plan for each district. It is also important to point out that already the Government’s responsible economic management is helping to keep interest rates low. [ 
Interruption 
] They do not want to hear it but it is true. A family with— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I apologise to the Minister. The level of interjection is unreasonable. Members have every right to be able to hear the Minister. I would ask though that answers not be too long. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: It is an important point. The Government’s responsible economic management is actually helping to keep interest rates low and that is very important in this context. A family with a $200000 mortgage is saving about $200 per week compared with what it was paying in 2008. 
John Hayes 
: What are some of the particular issues in the Auckland market affecting housing affordability? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: One of the big issues in Auckland is the availability and price of land. The median cost of an Auckland section is nearly $320000 which is around 60 percent of the cost of the house and that compares with around 40 percent in the rest of New Zealand. That is why the Government is putting a big emphasis on land section availability in our biggest city. I have heard there are some people who believe there are thousands of sections around Auckland available for around $50000 apparently. That is news to most people. I actually suspect we would have to zone all the land to Taupo as residential before we would get to that sort of price. 
John Hayes 
: Has he received any other proposals on housing affordability? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I have received a proposal that would take $1.5 billion of borrowed money magically build $30 billion worth of houses with it provide those houses to people at low interest rates but apparently at no cost to the Government and then get the $1.5 billion straight back again. Under this particular “back of the envelope” plan apparently two-thirds of these houses will be built in Auckland on all those widely available sections that sell for $50000. A very esteemed colleague of mine has referred to this plan as fantasyland. 
Hon Annette King 
: Has he visited sites within the current Auckland City boundaries to view houses that have been built for $300000 which are of quality and are affordable; if not— 
Hon Member 
: Include the land. 
Hon Annette King 
: —including the land—what is the Government’s basis for its assertion that it is not possible to build such homes? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I think it is called the statistics of the actual cost of building homes and I refer the member to this excellent report which would be able to help her with it. But in answer to her question I am aware that there were some people who visited some houses in Auckland but I also understand that the houses that were visited were subject to quite a significant Government subsidy. 
Hon Annette King 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked a specific question: has he visited sites within the current Auckland boundaries to view homes that have been built for $300000 including land which are of quality and affordable? I will give him the addresses if he wants them. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I would ask the House please to settle down a little because it was very difficult for me to even hear the original question. That is why I let the member on her point of order go on a little longer. She did ask whether the Minister had visited such houses and the Minister said that some people had visited such houses. I am not sure that he said whether he had. If the Minister could enlighten the House as to that. 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: No I have not personally. But if there are so many thousands of these houses and they do not involve Government subsidies and they have been built recently—not in the 1950s at 1950s prices—I would be happy for the member to supply a list of streets and addresses where these wonderful houses are and we will take it from there.