Heatley Phil:  Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Heatley Phil:  Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:640;Page:10027] 
10.  
PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) 
 to the  
Minister of Housing 
: When does he anticipate the nationwide roll-out of the shared equity scheme which is to be preceded by a “targeted pilot” to be “considered for next year’s budget” and how many New Zealanders does he expect will eventually be able to take advantage of the national scheme? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Housing) 
: 
 I would expect that the roll-out of a shared equity scheme might occur when we have completed the targeted pilot scheme assured ourselves of the effectiveness of the scheme and resolved any issues identified in the pilot scheme. I cannot be more specific about the timing of any roll-out at this stage because we are still in the design phase of the pilot scheme; nor can I provide figures of how many people might be able to participate in a roll-out scheme because those are details that have not yet been decided and again will be influenced by the pilot scheme. 
Phil Heatley 
: Why is he still at the design stage of a shared equity scheme this year then perhaps a pilot scheme next year when answers to parliamentary questions say that the Government has been looking at such schemes since 2004 and the then Minister of Housing said that Labour was likely to introduce a scheme in the 2005 Budget? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Shared equity is a new model of homeownership for New Zealand. It is not full ownership; it is partial ownership and that carries a host of new legal and technical implications. We need to test demand for this model of homeownership and we also need to take care to introduce it in a way that does not create market distortions that defeat the purpose of the scheme. That takes time. 
Jill Pettis 
: Could the Minister advise what other homeownership initiatives the Government has already introduced apart from the shared equity scheme? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: The Labour-led Government has introduced the Welcome Home Loan scheme which underwrites families on the margin of traditional bank criteria and helps them to get a home. About 2600 households have used the scheme so far. We have also introduced the KiwiSaver scheme which offers some first-time buyers assistance with a deposit and provides a pathway to saving more quickly a much larger deposit on a home. We have also introduced a $2.5 million homeownership education programme which has been rolled out across the country. 
Bob Clarkson 
: Why is he still designing the scheme when Helen Clark said the Government will “introduce an equity scheme in 2006” and “The Government had flagged the scheme as an election promise”— 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: He should know! 
Bob Clarkson 
: If you want to debate something Winston we will talk about scampi deals. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Would the member please start his question again. We will hear it in silence. 
Bob Clarkson 
: Why is he still designing the scheme when Helen Clark said the Government will “introduce an equity scheme in 2006” and “The Government had flagged the scheme as an election promise and was committed to delivering it.”? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: The Prime Minister and other Ministers in the Government have signalled that we will be having a shared equity pilot scheme for the reasons that I outlined in an earlier answer. This is a complex process this is a new product and I can ensure the member that the pilot scheme will be offered. 
Phil Heatley 
: Is the Minister telling us that he announced the scheme in 2004 again in 2005 again in 2006 and again this year without doing any design work at all and without seeing whether there was any need for it or public desire for it; if so why has he announced a shared equity scheme every year for the last 4 years without doing the design work for it? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: What I can tell the House is that the Government is committed to firm actions to try to create housing affordability and provide access to homeownership. I have outlined a number of schemes that are already in place and have signalled that the shared equity pilot scheme will happen next year. What is interesting is that I looked at the National Party’s website before question time today and found no reference to housing at all. Does that mean that party does not have any housing policy at all? 
Phil Heatley 
: What is the Minister doing to address housing affordability if it is not encouraging district councils to release more land for subdivision if it is not fixing the Resource Management Act 1991 and there is no sign of his flagship nationwide shared equity scheme anywhere on the horizon for the next 2 years? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I have already outlined a basket of initiatives that the Government has taken. I remind the member who has just asked me the question that there is no reference to housing at all on the National Party’s website. When is that party going to offer us any solutions? 
Phil Heatley 
: Has the Minister had discussions with the Minster of Finance on the introduction of a policy to ring-fence tax losses on rental housing; if not why not given that he is the Minister of Housing and is looking at housing and affordability; if so what is his opinion on ring-fencing tax losses on rental housing? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: Like all members of this Government I am in constant dialogue with the Minister of Finance. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the answer to written question No. 10742 which states the Government has been working on this matter since 2004. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the article “Help for home-buyers likely” from the  
Press 
 of 3 March 2005. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the press release headed “More help for first-home buyers” dated 22 August 2005. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table Labour’s election policy “Our Own Equity Share Scheme” from 2005. 
Document not tabled. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the article headed “First-timers to get cheap homes” from the  
Sunday Star-Times  
of July 2006. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the article headed “Shared equity schemes among options to lift home ownership” from a  
New Zealand Herald  
of August 2006. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the article headed “Housing Boom: Shared equity on Gov’s housing agenda” from an  
Independent  
of January 2007. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Phil Heatley 
: I seek leave to table the article “Carter urges NZ banks to consider shared equity schemes” dated March 2007. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table the document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Phil Heatley 
: Lastly I seek leave to table Labour’s Budget announcement that there will be a pilot shared equity scheme some time at the end of next year. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I seek leave to table a copy of the official National Party website which contains no reference to housing initiatives or any housing policy at all. 
Document not tabled. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. My point of order is a request for you to consider what this House has just experienced which in my view was a gross waste of Parliament’s time. For someone to get up and read out his recent reading bibliography is not an acceptable practice in Parliament. If we all did that there would be a hopeless lack of work being done in this Parliament. That is surely a procedure that that member and his party in particular should reflect on. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I thank the member. The member will be interested to know as may other members that this matter is being actively considered by the Standing Orders Committee.