3. Housing—Supply and AffordabilityANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterHousing—Supply and Affordability3. ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that we are seeing a record number of houses being built"; if so why given 29000 dwellings were consented nationwide in the past year compared to 33000 in 2004 and 40000 in 1974?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): Yes; according to the latest Building Activity Survey from Statistics New Zealand the volume of residential building work in the latest March quarter is the highest since the series began back in the 1980s. That is up 40 percent since 2013 and an impressive 80 percent since the start of 2012. As I said in a speech last month building consents are now at their highest level for over 11 years and National's comprehensive housing plan is aimed squarely at increasing them further.Andrew Little: Has he seen the Reserve Bank report showing that the number of new houses being built both in Auckland and around the country is many thousands below the number of new families needing a home?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: There is probably a likely shortfall at the moment but what we know is that that gap is closing very rapidly which will be assisted in part by the Auckland Unitary Plan and actually the fact that we are in the middle of the biggest building boom that New Zealand has ever seen.Andrew Little: Is he aware that the Reserve Bank's calculations show 16000 houses were needed to keep up with Auckland's population growth last year while only 9000 were consented?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I have not seen that data. I think that most people accept that one of those factors is migration but of course migration goes through flows. We already saw it—and the cycle was easing back a little bit last week. So overall I think the generally received wisdom is that we need about 13000 new properties a year in Auckland and we are rapidly getting near that number.Andrew Little: How does the housing shortage which is leading to out-of-control house prices and rents affect families?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: It obviously has an impact in terms of what people have to pay for their homes—although I would point out that house prices nationally have gone up at under half the rate under this Government as they did under the previous Labour Government and at about the same level in Auckland as they did under Labour. The one big advantage of course for New Zealanders now with a National-led Government is that interest rates are at a 70-year low and employment markets are very strong. The economy itself created 251000 additional jobs in the last 3 years. In fact things have got so good that even the Māori King says he will never vote for Labour again.Andrew Little: What does he say to Samoanagalo Ioelu who is about to be evicted from the unconsented garage where she has been living with her 11-month-old baby and who says "we couldn't afford the $300-and-something a week for rent … I can't go on the road I can't go sleep in the car with my son he's too young."?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I do not have the details of the case but I would refer the person to Work and Income.Andrew Little: Why in 2016 are any New Zealanders having to choose between living in garages or living in cars—or is this the "something special" that he said that we were on the cusp of?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The Government has been looking closely at the issue around emergency houses. It is one of the reasons why there was $41 million additional expenditure in Budget 2016 alone. It is why hundreds of millions has been put into social housing. It is why the Government has been ensuring that income-related rents are paid not only for Housing New Zealand homes but also for community housing providers for social housing. It is why there is more money being spent in Auckland for social housing.Andrew Little: In light of statements by Treasury the Reserve Bank the Auckland chamber of commerce the ANZ—and now the 85 percent of Aucklanders who say there is a housing crisis—will he now admit that his plan is a comprehensive failure and that it is time to just build some bloody houses?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I think that the member is incorrectly quoting those agencies."