Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Smith Nick: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:641;Page:11126] 
8.  
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
 to the  
Minister for Building and Construction 
: What if anything is the Department of Building and Housing doing to improve housing affordability? 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Minister for Building and Construction) 
: 
 The Department of Building and Housing is working in partnership with a number of agencies in developing a range of housing affordability proposals including the investigation of shared equity. This is part of the Government’s wider work programme on housing affordability. Specifically the department has introduced changes to the building code on energy efficiency. It will save families in new homes between $760 and $1800 per year on their energy bills. The department is progressing a suite of reforms to transform the building sector. The reforms include occupational licensing for building practitioners the building code review and the accreditation of building consent authorities. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Noting the example of sustainability that the Minister has given why under his policy has Mr Leigh Marshall an Auckland architect who wants to install a standard $5000 solar water-heating system in his home been billed $3800 for consent costs; and does this not confirm that building compliance costs are completely out of control? 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: Firstly the building consent costs the member refers to are determined by local authorities but recently I announced new compliance document guidance information that means that installing solar water heating technology will be made easier. In the past building consent authorities—that is local councils—had to examine each project on its merits leading to delays and unnecessary costs. We have published the new compliance document on solar heating installations. This in turn will lower the costs of installing the technology by as much as 10 percent or $500 and will remove an important barrier to the adoption of the technology. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: How has the new Building Act and the new department helped home affordability when according to the Registered Master Builders Federation in today’s  
Dominion Post 
 it has increased compliance costs levies and fees by a whopping 30 percent or $42000 per house? 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: The new rate of building levy from February 2005 is $1.97 per $1000 of building work. Formerly it was 67c per $1000 of building work. That means that a levy on a $250000 build is under $500 and on a $1 million build it is under $2000. I say to the member that it is a requirement and I want to quote that member’s comments in the  
New Zealand Herald  
of 25 September 2006: “We need to develop a programme for systematically reviewing all building standards to ensure they represent best practice. We then need to make these standards far more accessible to the public and building sector. The sensible way to fund this exercise is the building levy charged on all building consents.” 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Is it any wonder that building costs have gone through the roof when the Wellington City Council stated in Monday’s  
Dominion Post 
: “A typical house plan four years ago was three A3 size plans and 30 supporting pages. Developers are now required to file 12 A3 pages and up to 300 pages of supporting documentation.” and with that sort of paper war is it any wonder that homeownership rates are falling through the floor? 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: One of the reasons why we require auditing and accrediting of local authorities is that firstly we have a buoyant economy which means more builds; secondly that means an extraordinary number of consent applications; and thirdly it means that we need to ensure that local authorities have the staff—as in the Palmerston North City Council which almost doubled its staff from 12 to 20—to meet that demand to ensure that their processes are efficient and to ensure that they have resources and their inspectors are doing their jobs properly. That is simple organisational reform. Rather than simply saying we should do something about it we are ensuring councils are up to speed and are actually meeting those demands. That comes at a cost and councils are charging that cost. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Why should the public have any confidence that this Government can improve home affordability when the latest census data shows it has dropped by 1 percent in every year that Labour has been in Government and a report today predicts that under current Government policy homeownership will tumble over the next 10 years to the lowest level in the OECD? 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE 
: I am very proud of what the Government has done to assist home affordability unlike that party previously in Government. The facts are these: income-related rents for State houses an increased accommodation supplement KiwiSaver the Welcome Home Loan scheme the shared equity scheme to be examined and the Home Ownership Education Programme. They are facts and programmes that are now in place. The member should also recall that we are in a buoyant economy and that is why we have a large number of consents. People are embarking on house builds and house purchases because they have money in their pockets. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave to table an email from architect Mr Marshall stating he has still not received his consent. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: To illustrate the burgeoning paper war I seek the leave of the House to table a building consent for a standard house prior to the Minister’s Building Act. 
Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.