Twyford Phil: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTwyford Phil: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 30 March 2016. Volume:712;Page:10009. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister for Building and Housing: How many houses have been completed as a result of the $52.2 million Crown land policy he announced in Budget 2015?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Prime Minister) on behalf of theMinister for Building and Housing: Land purchase agreements have been finalised for eight parcels of land and negotiations are under way for a further 27 parcels. Over the next month we expect to make announcements on development agreements for these sites which could provide around a thousand homes. In Budget 2015 we said that the first homes would take at least 18 months to get under way and less than a year later it is not surprising that none have actually been completed but they are on track.Phil Twyford: Why did he claim in the House yesterday that developments at Weymouth and Hobsonville were completed under the programme when they were both begun before he had even announced it or is he now claiming credit for every random house built in Auckland to make it look like his failed scheme is actually working?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Of course Weymouth is one that the Minister was heavily involved with and it seems to have made—by any standard—remarkable progress but I would have to say that in the first 12 months it did not succeed in getting houses built. You do have to follow the process. For instance iwi have rights under the Treaty settlements related to this land and those rights have to be respected. That takes time.Phil Twyford: How does he expect his Crown land scheme to make a significant difference to Auckland housing supply when it has taken so long to get off the ground and looks like it will be less than one-third of the 500 hectares that he and the Prime Minister promised or has he identified more cemeteries and power substations to build on?Mr SPEAKER: The Hon Bill English—either of those two questions.Hon BILL ENGLISH: It will certainly help in the context of what I think is a record for building consents from the data that has been published in the last few days. It will have the same sort of impact as similar schemes had in Christchurch. The member should feel free to look at the Crown land programme in Christchurch because in relatively short order—about 18 months—it is now starting to produce a larger number of reasonably priced homes that middle-income families can afford.Phil Twyford: Whydoes he trumpet today’s consent figures as some kind of success when the 12-month rate of 9500 will not even house the new migrants who have settled in Auckland over that period let alone the 13000 new dwellings a year that Auckland needs or the 40000 shortfall that has built up under his watch?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The Auckland Council can always do more. It can always become faster at issuing consents on subdivisions. It can always become a lot faster at issuing its building consents sorting out its issues with Watercare Services and ensuring that communities are properly consulted. It has got quite a bit faster but it has got some way to go yet.Phil Twyford: How can he try to spin an annual consent rate of 9500 in Auckland as a success when his own housing accord sets the target for this year at 17000 new dwellings so he is missing his own target by 7500 new homes?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member despite being an Auckland member does not seem to understand that the Auckland Council makes those decisions. The Minister is not the consenting authority. The Auckland Council is the one that has to sign off every single thing from the pavement to the height of the chimney and the faster it can do that the better. I share the member’s concerns and I have had the chance to share them with the Auckland Council that if it can go faster it would be better but it is going faster than it ever has in the last 10 years.