4. Question No. 4—HousingANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 4—Housing4. ANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Minister of Housing: Does she stand by the Minister of Finance's statement that delivering $3.8 billion of grants to councils to pay for housing infrastructure is as councils have told him the most important thing we can do to help them add to supply" and when will councils start to receive these grants?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): Yes in the context that it was made. Councils have told us that helping to fund infrastructure is the most important thing that we can do to help them add to housing supply. We know that dealing with an infrastructure investment deficit that has been decades in the making is critical. Under-investment in infrastructure has limited both the amount of new land that can be used for residential development and limited the intensification potential of existing urban areas. The intent of the $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund is to increase supply by creating build-ready land for housing via our large-scale programmes land the Government already owns private development projects and iwi and Māori-led projects. I'll be taking the final design and criteria for the fund to Cabinet by the end of June and the Housing Acceleration Fund will start making investments in the second half of the year.Andrew Bayly: How much of the $3.8 billion will be allocated in the next 12 months?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As we've talked about on many occasions that will depend on final designs and I will be taking a paper to Cabinet by the end of June.Andrew Bayly: Which agency will allocate the grants and will there be independent experts involved directly in how those grants are allocated to new developments?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I will be taking a paper to Cabinet by the end of June and further announcements will be made following that.Andrew Bayly: What processes will councils and developers have to use or adopt to apply for grants?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: One process that we'll be looking for is building some houses which will be in stark contrast to previous infrastructure funds that have been put in place. So if I have a look at the Housing Infrastructure Fund that the previous Government put in place—and we are having to deal with the consequences of—you cannot really point to any houses because the previous Government did not put a necessity on those loans to be tied to housing. That is critical. We are a Government that is making a generational investment in infrastructure because in order to get houses that has to be done.Andrew Bayly: Point of order Mr Speaker. I'm surprised because you are very keen to follow these questions. My question to the Minister was: "What is the process councils and developers will have to adopt or use to apply for grants?" I don't think the Minister answered that question at all.SPEAKER: Well I think about the first half-dozen words answered it. I should probably have stopped it at that point because it went on for far too long.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Will the Government be prioritising infrastructure that supports more new homes within existing urban areas which will enable lower carbon and more affordable transport options for the people living in those homes?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes. As I indicated in the answer to the primary question the Housing Acceleration Fund will concentrate on both brownfields and greenfields developments. What we want to do is maximise the intensification potential within our urban areas.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Has she seen analysis from Auckland Council and the OECD that new homes in greenfields areas have an associated infrastructure cost of $140000 per home as well as higher greenhouse gas emissions associated with them?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I have seen lots of reports that point for the need to build climate resilient cities that require brownfields development and urban intensification and that is precisely why the fund is looking at both.Andrew Bayly: How is it acceptable to announce a $3.8 billion grant scheme without first determining how it will operate?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We've been over this many times in this House. Principal decisions have been made around the fund and they've been outlined recently by the Prime Minister in her primary question. One we will be looking for partnerships with councils. We will be looking for additionality. We will be looking for projects that wouldn't otherwise happen. We have also said that it will be contestable. But what we also know is that if this fund is going to work now that we have made the budget allocation we have to work with our partners. We have to work with local councils and we have to work with iwi Māori. Look New Zealand has been waiting for this fund for decades and I am proud that our Government is delivering it.Hon Grant Robertson: Has she the Minister seen any examples of people advocating to stop adding to the supply of housing?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes just as recently as today. I understand that on the day that National released its housing policy its own deputy leader is actively campaigning against a development in Whangārei that would bring in much-needed houses in an area identified as having a pressing need for new houses. The National Party can't have it both ways. Either it supports the provision of new housing across the country or it doesn't."