Yule LawrenceLAWRENCE YULE (National—Tukituki): There could be nothing more stark in the difference between the two main political parties than in this bill. I stand to speak to it on the basis that this is everything about regulating taxing piling on the costs redistributing things—it's all about that—and it's got nothing to do with what actually works. We strongly oppose this bill. I want to give this House some examples that I've seen in my own electorate already. So as you push the costs up landlord after landlord is exiting—is exiting—and selling their house. Sure they're going to first-home buyers but the net pool of rental accommodation in my electorate is fundamentally declining. Yes this Government is very proud of their meagre attempts in the housing market. They told us today in question time that no Government has built more State houses than they are. Great—that's a laudable goal—but when the market on the other side is simply declining and the private sector market provision is declining because of costs because of compliance and because of regulation the net result is that we're going backwards. I listened to the last speaker Willow-Jean Prime talk about It's going to be much harder to terminate tenancies." Anybody can go and talk to a landlord. That is such a turn-off for them—that is another example of why they can't be bothered. If they have difficult tenants or they have a change in circumstance all we're doing is making it harder for them to stay as landlords in the rental market. I give you examples in my own patch already. It was denied by the Minister of Housing in the House today but I believe that her response was fundamentally wrong. In my electorate Housing New Zealand is buying houses because they can't build them quick enough. They're buying them often at above-the-odds market rates and putting tenants in them who in many cases are then trashing the houses destroying the neighbourhood and in many cases have fundamental gang associations that mean that the whole neighbourhood has been transformed. Now in that case that is a rental market that is—Angie Warren-Clark: Scaremongering. LAWRENCE YULE: It's not scaremongering. It's absolutely going on and true and I have evidence of it. The net result is that because of that even more people don't want to be landlords. They don't want to be landlords they don't want to be caught up in it and they don't want any part of it. So on one hand the Government has a laudable goal of trying to lift standards of trying to improve quality and of making things child-friendly. You can do that with your own houses but the private sector will do what it wishes based on where the market return is where the money is and where the risk profile is. The net result of this bill—which is why this side of the House is so opposed—is that you are going to fundamentally move private landlords out of the sector. They got scared enough when the capital gains tax was being considered. They've hung in there but this is just another kick. I have talked to many real estate agents—many—in this space who say "All that will do is you'll shift landlords from out of the market." In my own patch we have never had so many people living in temporary accommodation. Over 450 are living in motels some of them for over a year. In my own patch the rental crisis has never been worse. The net result of that is that people are living in substandard conditions. What we need is a market that is prepared to provide long-term rental accommodation and by regulations that are so rigid so tight and so difficult the net result of it is that a large number of these landlords are going to leave. I do want to come to the shortened time for this bill to be considered: four months and two days. I understand that's a way of getting around the rules but this is a big deal. This is a big deal where lots of people will want to have a say. Just because it's election year I fail to see why we're going to constrain things to this degree when the net result is in my view we'll look back in 10 or 15 years' time and say "That was a complete market failure. The market has deserted us." There's more and more demand for rental accommodation and there are fewer and fewer houses because of this very bill. That's why this side of the House strongly opposes it."