6. Question No. 6—HousingHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 6—Housing6. Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of Housing: Does she agree with the Prime Minister that whether people rent or own it is considered unaffordable to have someone paying more than 30 percent of their income on the cost of their housing"? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): In answer to the first part of the question yes. In answer to the second part of the question 30 percent is an international benchmark that is used to indicate whether housing costs are affordable or not. For public housing we have set the rent at 25 percent of income. The proportion of people spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs is higher for renters than homeowners. The biggest increase in the proportion of renters paying more than 30 percent of their income happened in the 1990s and that proportion has been relatively stable in recent years. Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does she think that it's unacceptable that the most recent statistics show that nearly one-third of households are paying 30 percent or more of their income on housing costs? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I agree that we need to be doing more to ensure that housing remains affordable which is exactly why our Government is looking at a range of measures to both boost supply and address demand pressures. We've already undertaken a number of reforms to help renters such as only allowing one annual rent increase. We're also doing work on the largest public house build in a generation and we are rolling out a progressive homeownership scheme to help more people into their own homes. We are also progressing work around further developing the build-to-rent sector. These reforms will make a difference but we know that there is much work to be done. Hon Julie Anne Genter: Will the Government respond to address the fact that because of significant rent increases the annual inflation faced by beneficiaries in 2020 was almost three times higher than for other households? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: That's not a matter that I have direct ministerial responsibility for but I do know that our Government is committed to ensuring that those on the lowest incomes are able to afford a decent living and we are continually looking at what more we can do to support them. Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does the Government have a target for the maximum percentage of income that people particularly those on low fixed incomes—like beneficiaries—are spending on housing costs? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I indicated in the answer to my primary question when it comes to public housing—those houses that are covered off by the Income Related Rent Subsidy—that is set at 25 percent. More broadly: no we do not have a target around the proportion of income. But I think what is important is that we are committed to ensuring housing is affordable and that is why we are rolling out a number of initiatives that will address both supply and demand. Hon Julie Anne Genter: How will the Government test the success of those policies that she's just referred to to make sure particularly those on low fixed incomes—like beneficiaries—are able to have affordable housing? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: One way in which we will test it is by continually increasing the number of public houses we have. As I have indicated to the member we are building the most public houses that have been built in a generation and we'll have built 18000 of those houses by 2024. That is where people will be paying 25 percent of their income on an Income Related Rent Subsidy. More broadly we will know that we have been successful when all New Zealanders live in a warm dry affordable home whether they are renting or owning."