10. Question No. 10—HousingNICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 10—Housing10. NICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Minister of Housing: Have any developers undertaking construction of market homes approached the Government for an indemnity or underwrite that would provide additional financial assurance to their banks and if approaches of this sort have been made what steps has the Government taken to ensure it applies fair and transparent criteria to assessing or granting these applications?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): Yes. As I'm sure the member is aware the main mechanism under building the KiwiBuild programme is the underwrite provided to a developer for the KiwiBuild homes that are included in their housing projects. These projects will include market homes. There are well-documented detailed and well-established processes for these underwrites which I don't propose to canvass in detail here but I am satisfied with the due diligence that is undertaken.Nicola Willis: Can she confirm that on 20 May this year she was advised of a request by a private developer for a Crown underwrite for the construction of 49 open-market homes and if so on what date did she agree to provide a Crown guarantee of $21 million for those market properties?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I don't have the specific dates but I have confirmed to that member in answer to written parliamentary questions that an underwrite was received for the Monark development—a request for further underwrite—taking the underwrite from $19 million to $40 million and as has been well canvassed in this House on multiple occasions that's because this development was in a category of one. It was a development where a substantial number of KiwiBuild properties had been sold prior to there being a financing and construction agreement in place—a practice that has not been undertaken since December of last year.Nicola Willis: Does the Minister stand by her statement that without this Crown guarantee for the Monark project further delays would have risked the homes not being built"; if so will the Crown provide financial guarantees to other private developments where there is a risk that homes will not be built?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I have consistently reminded this member this was a development that was in a category of one. So when it came to assessing whether or not to extend the underwrite to the further properties we only had to consider all of the properties in that category and that was one. I am confused by that member. Is she now saying she supports the underwrite? Is it now her party's policy to continue this practice?Nicola Willis: Did the Minister have any input into the decision to exclude residential property development and investment projects from the Government's business finance guarantee scheme and can she explain why they were excluded?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: In answer to the first part of the question no.Nicola Willis: Is it fair that the Monark development in a category of one received a $21 million Crown finance guarantee for 49 market homes when hundreds of other residential property developers across the country may want a Crown guarantee but have no way of getting one?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Apart from looking forward to seeing the fully costed National Party policy to extend this underwrite guarantee to the hundreds of developers across the country which is clearly a move from the position of opposing any underwrites under KiwiBuild I am satisfied and what I would like to remind that member is that there were two unsold market homes in that development. If the underwrite needs to be exercised on those two market homes the underwrite will only be exercised at the KiwiBuild cap. And what the member might like to know is that through her publicity for this particular development while 10 people have cancelled their contracts 29 have entered into expressions of interest. So while that member may be looking to crash property developments in Wellington we on this side of the House are backing them."