Dowie Sarah: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDowie Sarah: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 11 February 2015. Volume:703;Page:1460. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]9.SARAH DOWIE (National—Invercargill)to the Minister for Building and Housing: What progress is the Government making in increasing the pace of new house construction and expanding Government support for first home buyers?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing):The number of new homes consented in 2014 topped 24000 or over 2000 per month. This is double the rate of 1000 per month when we became the Government in November 2008 and is the highest number in years. The $9.5 billion investment in residential construction last year is the highest on record in both real and nominal terms. The biggest increase has been in Auckland and greater Christchurch where we are now building over 600 new homes per month in each. This rate in Auckland is treble the rate of 200 per month when Labour left office. The rate of house builds in Christchurch is at an all-time high and has doubled since 2012 showing the momentum of Christchurch’s housing recovery. The next step is our KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme which will assist 90000 young families into their first homes. This $430 million programme starts on 1 April and doubles the support for buying a new home.Sarah Dowie: What other reports has the Minister received confirming the strong growth in residential construction?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The GDP data for the construction sector shows growth of 12 percent in 2014 to a record $14 billion per year. The National Construction Pipeline report shows growth expected this year of a further $4 billion a further $3 billion in 2016 and another $2 billion on top of that to an expected all-time high in 2017. The household labour force survey data is equally positive. This has shown job growth in the construction sector of 21000 additional building staff over the past 3 years. We now have 136000 people working in the building industry which is the highest number ever for New Zealand. I am also encouraged by the growth in building apprenticeships which saw an all-time high last year of 5500 new apprenticeships. This is up 70 percent on 2013 and more than double the number of the average under the previous Government.Sarah Dowie: Does the Minister agree with the conclusions of the Productivity Commission in 2012 and the Motu study and the Registered Master Builders Federation study this year on house prices that the largest cost increase over the past two decades has been in the price of land and sections; if so what steps is the Government taking to address this?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Yes the Government does agree that the biggest problem is around land and section prices. That is why in 2013 we passed the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act which has now seen 100 special housing areas gazetted with a capacity of over 43000 homes. The longer-term response has to be reform of the Resource Management Act. It is the primary legislation that governs subdivision the supply of sections and rules controlling intensification and also redevelopment. Our proposed amendments will speed up the plan-making process give greater weight to housing supply and affordability and streamline the consenting process.