2. Housing—Affordability and AvailabilityANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterHousing—Affordability and Availability2. ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that if you see house prices rising you might say the Government needs to do more" and "we take responsibility we need to do a better job of it"?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): As I said in answer to exactly the same question from the member over 3 months ago "I stand by my full statement which went on to say 'But just think of the things we have done over the last 2 years alone.' To say we have done nothing is absolutely not true. We have done a lot. So let me remind the House about the Government's comprehensive housing plan. It includes a new $1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund over 210 special housing areas for 70000 new homes an expanded HomeStart scheme to first-home buyers the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Resource Management Act reform a raft of extra tax measures the new Auckland Unitary Plan more tools for the Reserve Bank … By any measure this is a comprehensive housing plan."Andrew Little: Is he concerned that the average mortgage for a first-home buyer is now 43 percent higher than just 2 years ago? Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well I saw the member's selective use of data this morning. What I can say is that of course people will be borrowing more because house prices have risen but the good news is that they will be paying half the interest rates they were when Labour last left office.Andrew Little: What proportion of young Kiwi families have the $100000 deposit needed now to buy the average first home?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I do not have those details; you would need to direct them to the Minister for Building and Housing. But what I do know is that the Government has introduced the KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme which enables a great many young families to get support from the Government. Many of them are required to have only a 10 percent deposit because of effectively the Welcome Home Loan scheme and the like. There are as we know plenty of first-home buyers coming into the market. For instance since the Reserve Bank series began in August 2014 the number of first-home buyers per month has increased by over 50 percent from 1277 to 1967.Andrew Little: Does he still not see that rising house prices are just shutting young people out of buying their first home?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I think when the member sees the most recent data that will be released he will actually see that the raft of changes that have been made by both the Reserve Bank and the Government are seeing more first-home buyers actually coming into the market.Andrew Little: Does he agree with his finance Minister that interest rates are likely to rise next year; if so what impact will this have on young families with large mortgages?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I am glad the member has raised interest rates because they were a disgrace under the previous Labour Government. The good news is that under the careful economic management of the finance Minister interest rates have halved. Yes they may go up a tiny amount on the basis that interest rates are so low that deposit rates are lower at the moment and therefore banks have to borrow a little bit more from offshore. Actually the offshore market is subject to all sorts of things beyond New Zealand's control including a more stimulatory policy from the United States President-Elect.Andrew Little: Given that answer can he confirm that the gap between New Zealand and US interest rates was 2.8 percent across his time in office and 2.8 percent across Labour's last term in Government; if so why is he trying to claim responsibility for global interest rates?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No I cannot confirm that gap but I can confirm that the gap between Labour and National was 22 percent in the last poll.Andrew Little: Why does he not just adopt Labour's Kiwi Build programme build some affordable homes and give young people a fair shot at the Kiwi Dream instead of crippling them with dangerously large mortgages on overpriced houses?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Because the voters know that it is a load of rubbish and that is why the Labour Party is polling 28 percent.Marama Davidson: Given that under this Government too many people are unable to afford a home and the planned offload of hundreds of State homes in Invercargill and Horowhenua has failed why is he now planning to try to transfer thousands of State homes in Christchurch?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Sorry Mr Speaker—could the member please repeat the question.Marama Davidson: Given that under this Government too many people are unable to afford a home and the planned offload of hundreds of State homes in Invercargill and Horowhenua has failed why is he now planning to try to transfer thousands of State homes in Christchurch?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: As the member probably knows the transfer of State houses in Christchurch is all about increasing the number of community housing providers and social housing providers in that market. So the advantage of that of course is that it allows the Government to use that capital to build even more State houses with better configurations in places that they are required. That is also why the Government changed the previous policy which locked out social housing providers from getting access to income-related rents. As a result of this policy which has widely been endorsed right across New Zealand we are now going to see more community houses State houses and social houses provided to families in need.Marama Davidson: Will he insist on pushing through this failing policy of shrinking the Housing New Zealand stock in the face of opposition like the Press editorial which said yesterday: "It is hard not to feel dismayed by the dreary lack of ambition … and to wonder whether the Government is simply washing its hands of one of its most important and central roles."?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: What that shows you is that that editorial writer does not understand what is happening and that is because what is happening here is that the number of social houses in New Zealand is dramatically increasing. These are not being sold to a private developer; they are increasing because there are now more social housing providers. That money will be used to build new houses in locations where they are required like Auckland."