Ngaro Alfred: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to MembersText is subject to correctionNgaro Alfred: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members[Sitting date: 10 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8840. Text is subject to correction.]8.ALFRED NGARO (National) to the Minister for Building and Housing: How does the number of homes consented in the last quarter of 2008 compare with the last quarter of 2015?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing): The pace of new home construction has more than doubled nationally and more than trebled in Auckland. The exact numbers nationally—Andrew Little: From a very low base.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Yes it was a very low base under Labour I accept that. The exact numbers were that in the last quarter of the previous Government 3468 homes were built; in the last quarter of 2015 it was 7718. The comparisons in Auckland were that 763 homes were consented in the last quarter of 2008 as compared with 2718 in the last quarter of 2015. The pace of new home builds is at the highest for more than a decade.Alfred Ngaro: What are the latest annual reports on home building numbers and values in Auckland; and how have they changed since the Government entered into the Auckland Housing Accord?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The number of new house builds in Auckland has gone from 3700 in 2012 up to 4600 then up to 6300 and last year 9250. This is an annual growth rate of between 20 and 30 percent in every year since the Auckland accord was signed. The level of investment has grown from $1.6 billion per year in the period around 2008 to now over $3.8 billion a year in Auckland. If we look at the number of people employed in the building and construction sector in Auckland last year it grew by 31 percent in a single year or an additional 20000 tradespeople building homes in Auckland.Alfred Ngaro: What reports has the Minister received on future home build rates in Auckland and what measures is the Government taking this year to maintain this momentum?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The National Construction Pipeline report which is produced independently is projecting an additional 80000 new homes being built in Auckland over the next 6 years. That compares with only 30000 over the preceding 6 years and it gives me optimism that we are successfully addressing the issues of supply. The next steps in our reform programme are the changes to the Resource Management Act completing the unitary plan for Auckland developing a national policy on urban development and developing into housing blocks those quite large numbers of surplus Crown lands that have sat around for decades.Dr David Clark: Does the Minister accept that the housing situation has worsened according to the statistics since the period of the global financial crisis 8 years ago that he quotes from in his initial question; if so does he further accept that 8 years on people still cannot live in consents?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: No no—quite the opposite. If you look at all of the core statistics around housing the number of houses that are being built in Auckland is three times the number from when Labour left Government. The number nationally has doubled. If we look at the number of homes that have been insulated that number is over 300000. In fact in the years of this John Key Government we will make more progress on insulating older homes than any Government in the history of New Zealand. I would also draw to the member’s attention the housing affordability data from Massey University which shows that even in Auckland it is more affordable for housing today because interest rates are of course at a 40-year low and nothing makes a bigger difference for Kiwi families wanting to buy their own home than the level of interest rates they are paying.