Foster-Bell Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFoster-Bell Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 14 November 2013. Volume:694;Page:14707. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.PAUL FOSTER-BELL (National) to theMinister of Housing: What initiatives has the Government recently taken to assist first home buyers and ensure more lower-cost homes are being built?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister of Housing): This morning we turned the first sod on the $30 million - plus 150-home redevelopment at Pōmare. This community which has had more than its fair share of gang and crime problems is a good illustration of why we need to reform our historic approach to State housing. The new development will provide good-quality low-cost homes for sale which will open the door to homeownership for 110 families. The remaining 40 homes will be split between the community housing providers like Accessible Properties the Wellington Housing Trust and Housing New Zealand. I am confident that this remodelled community will deliver far better social outcomes for the future.Paul Foster-Bell: What reports has the Minister had on the Government’s initiatives that took effect on 1 October in expanding the Welcome Home Loan and the KiwiSaver first-home deposit subsidy?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: There has been a big increase in the number of first-home buyers accessing Welcome Home Loan loans particularly in Auckland and Christchurch where we increased eligibility by $85000 and $100000 respectively. The numbers have doubled to 47 per week and are at an all-time high since the scheme was established more than a decade ago. I am also encouraged that three further major banks that were previously outside the scheme have now applied to join and this will in time expand the number of first-home buyers accessing the Welcome Home Loan scheme. Also the growth in the uptake of the KiwiSaver first-home deposit subsidy arises because we have lifted both the income and house price caps. This initiative is helping first-home buyers and is complementing the Reserve Bank concerns about low-deposit lending.Phil Twyford: Why if his Government is so concerned about the housing crisis has it as the Salvation Army has reported today cut the annual capital contribution to Housing New Zealand in half and pulled nearly half a billion dollars in dividends out of Housing New Zealand resulting in a net $142 million withdrawal of funds in the middle of a housing crisis when there are 4000 families on waiting lists and Government agencies are referring people to live in camping grounds; and will he confirm that the Government has been squeezing the lifeblood out of Housing New Zealand to pay for National’s tax cuts?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The member’s numbers are all wrong. The Government is investing a record $2.9 billion in Housing New Zealand over the next 3 years and I challenge the member opposite to find any period of Labour Government when that sort of investment took place in Housing New Zealand. The development that we launched this morning in Pōmare is just a classic example of the major investment that we are making in improving the quality of our social housing.Phil Twyford: I seek leave of the House to table the report by the Salvation Army which details a $142 million—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! Seeking leave to table a document is a matter of briefly describing the document; it is not about making a political point. What I just need to check before I put the leave is whether it is a document that has been circulated and is freely available to members of Parliament.Phil Twyford: The report has been released only in the last hour. It is not publicly available to everybody yet and it directly pertains to the information that—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The easiest way to move this forward is to accept what the member has said. I will put the leave. It is over to the House. Leave is sought to table that particular report. Is there any objection? There is none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Paul Foster-Bell: What interest has there been in the Government’sFirstHomeinitiative?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: There have been 14000 viewings on the website and over 1000 phone and email inquiries for the scheme which is designed to give preference to first-home buyers of surplus properties in provincial New Zealand. Sales have been completed in Ōtorohanga Napier Marton Foxton Levin Picton Blenheim Timaru Cromwell Dunedin and Invercargill. I have been heartened by letters from first-home purchasers like the one I received from a family in Invercargill which said: “It’s a dream I never expected to attain and I will never forget that I’ve been given this opportunity to own my own home for myself and my son.”