Bennett Paula: Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett Paula: Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 18 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5893. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Housing): I move That the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services Committee to consider this bill. This Government is continuing its commitment to improve the social housing system to support more vulnerable New Zealanders with the Social Housing Reform (Transaction Mandate) Bill.This bill achieves three things. It authorises designated Ministers to enter into social housing reform transactions in the name of Housing New Zealand Corporation and its subsidiaries. It clarifies that the Public Works Act 1981 offer-back provisions do not apply to land held by Housing New Zealand Ltd. It also preserves this treatment for designated Ministers so that just as the offer-back provisions do not apply and have never applied to land held by Housing New Zealand Ltd they do not apply to Ministers acting in Housing New Zealand’s name. The bill confirms the Crown’s authority to administer Crown land that is held under the Housing Act 1955.The primary purpose of this bill is to enable the Social Housing Reform Programme to progress. The bill is needed firstly to provide Ministers with statutory authority to undertake the transfer of Housing New Zealand properties to community housing providers; and secondly to provide Housing New Zealand with the statutory mandate to support the transfers. Housing New Zealand’s guiding legislation evolved to fit the existing social housing system and this Government has decided that the existing social housing system is not best serving the needs of vulnerable New Zealanders.The objectives of the Social Housing Reform Programme are firstly to ensure that people who need housing support can access it and receive social housing services that meet their needs; secondly ensure that social housing is of the right size configuration and quality and in the right areas for those households that need it; thirdly help social housing tenants to independence as appropriate; fourthly encourage and develop a more diverse ownership of social housing with more innovation and responsiveness to its tenants and its communities; and fifthly help increase the supply of affordable housing especially in Auckland.Legislative changes support these objectives and in particular the fourth objective to encourage and develop a more diverse ownership of social housing with more innovation and responsiveness to tenants and communities. The Social Housing Reform Programme includes the transfer of Housing New Zealand houses to community housing providers to support the development of the community housing sector.The proposed initial transactions involve the transfer of 1000 to 2000 Housing New Zealand houses to registered community housing providers. The transactions process is new both for the Government in terms of transferring substantial numbers of social houses and of course for those community housing providers. Consequently the process is proceeding in a measured way so that potential participants have the opportunity to prepare. This bill supports the programme by amending the Housing Corporation Act 1974 to provide designated Ministers with the authority to transfer Housing New Zealand Corporation properties. Designated Ministers will be able to do this by entering into contracts and performing other acts in the name of Housing New Zealand.Along with transferring properties the bill enables the designated Ministers to enter into contracts to ensure that Housing New Zealand provides transitional services to transferees to ensure that tenants’ needs are looked after during any transfer process. We will ensure that transaction processes work smoothly for current tenants. There are safeguards in the process. Following the exercise of the transaction mandate Ministers are required to publicly notify the general nature and purpose of its use by means of a statement published in the Gazette and presented to the House of Representatives. This provides transparency allowing Parliament and the public to see that its exercise is consistent with the purposes outlined in the legislation.The offer-back provisions set out in the Public Works Act 1981 do not apply to land held by Housing New Zealand and the bill ensures this position is carried forward by amending the Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992. This amendment ensures that Ministers’ use of the transaction mandate to transfer properties on behalf of Housing New Zealand does not raise any doubts about whether the Public Works Act applies.It is important to provide certainty on this point to avoid delay to the social housing reform process. This amendment does not alter any existing rights as it confirms the current legal position that the offer-back regime does not apply. If there are rights of a first refusal for iwi in relation to Housing New Zealand Corporation properties under Treaty settlement legislation these legal interests are preserved after these changes. We are going through a thorough process to deal with these.The final aspect of this bill is an amendment to the Housing Act 1955 to clear up a longstanding issue not directly related to the social housing programme. This amendment is a technical amendment that gives a designated Minister the exclusive power to administer State housing land that is identified by the Minister in a Gazette notice. State housing land is land that is owned by the Crown and is set aside under the Housing Act. Some of this land is managed by Housing New Zealand on behalf of the Crown and some is managed by the Crown itself.The Crown and Housing New Zealand agree that the Crown should have the authority to transact State housing land that Housing New Zealand does not manage but the legislation setting out this authority is unclear. This bill clears up that matter. This amendment does not apply to land that is owned by Housing New Zealand. This Government remains committed to improving the lives of tenants in social housing and this bill supports that objective. I commend this bill to the House.