3. Housing Affordability and Availability—Government Measures to AddressANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterHousing Affordability and Availability—Government Measures to AddressANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): My question—Hon Steven Joyce: Apologise.ANDREW LITTLE: When Mr Joyce is ready my question is to the Prime Minister. Does—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have asked Mr Joyce to cease once. I do not want to have to do it again.3. ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement regarding housing that we take responsibility we need to do a better job of it"?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): I stand by my full statement which went on to say "But just think of the things we have done over the last 2 years alone". To say we have done nothing is absolutely not true. We have done a lot. So let me remind the House about the Government's comprehensive housing plan. It includes a new $1 billion dollar Housing Infrastructure Fund over 210 special housing areas for 70000 new homes an expanded HomeStart scheme to first-home buyers the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Resource Management Act reform a raft of extra tax measures the new Auckland Unitary Plan more tools for the Reserve Bank the independent urban development authority's finding some areas of high housing need and getting the Auckland Unitary Plan under way. By any measure this is a comprehensive plan.Andrew Little: Does he take responsibility and need to do a better job when only one in five Auckland houses are now affordable for families on the average income according to the Government's own figures?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Of course there will be a range of incomes and a range of properties. One thing I do know is that wage growth under this Government has been in the better part of 25 percent in the 8 years that we have been in Government. Interest rates have plummeted to where they were under the previous Labour Government. If we look at the number of properties sold for under $650000 in Auckland for the previous year it was 37 percent of properties—at 11842. And—out of interest—if one was to take a cursory look at TradeMe as I did just before around Auckland houses apartments townhouses and units listed for sale at $600000 and below it lists 1433 listings.Andrew Little: Does he take responsibility and need to do a better job when under his flagship special housing area policy 84 percent of those areas have not had a single house built on them?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Everyone appreciates that special housing areas (SHAs) are a fast-track process and a fast-track zoning process so of course it takes some time for those properties ultimately to have the horizontal infrastructure and the like. But for the record the advice that my office has received is that as of 30 June 2016 when it comes to Auckland's SHAs 1300 homes have been completed 2200 building consents have been issued 2458 new sections have been created and 7170 new sections have been granted resource consent. Of the 154 SHAs in Auckland 26 have been built on with the capacity of 29800; 15 have earthworks under way with the capacity of 5300; and 88 are in some stage of the planning process. Only 25 SHAs have no consents—Mr SPEAKER: Bring the answer to a conclusion.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: —of which 16 were declared SHAs in February to May of this year.Andrew Little: Does he take responsibility and need to do a better job when developers appear to be using the special housing areas for land banking rather than building affordable housing and helping first-home buyers?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: As you can see from the data I just read out to the House—and I will not repeat it in the interests of time—there is no evidence I think to support that there is land banking.Andrew Little: Does he take responsibility and need to do a better job when homeownership is at its lowest level in 65 years and young families all over the country are giving up on the Kiwi Dream of owning their own home?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: If one looks at the household labour force survey out today at 5.1 percent at the jobs that have been created in the 8 years under this Government at the level of interest rates in New Zealand now and at the wage growth that has taken place—again under this Government at 25 percent and in real terms about 13 percent—I do not think it is true to say that people have given up. But certainly the Government has a number of responses and one of those to help those first-home buyers is the KiwiSaver HomeStart programme and I think that has been very successful.Andrew Little: What is his response to Hunter Wright and Sandi Langridge a Nelson couple who say "We consider ourselves pretty average New Zealanders. We don't earn great money but we still want the Kiwi Dream." and who say that under his Government the dream has become "unreachable"?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Obviously I do not know the couple whom the member talks of and I do not know their income and their circumstances. What I do know is that with interest rates at the levels that they are with the job growth we are seeing and actually with the prospects for New Zealand I think there are a lot of young couples who would argue pretty strongly that they are out there buying houses. There is one particular story I think in the New Zealand Herald about that just today.Andrew Little: After 8 years' failure and half-baked policies is it not time to swallow his pride and adopt Labour's genuine comprehensive housing plan because every day that he mucks around families are missing out on getting their first home?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The only thing comprehensive was the way he abused Nick Leggett last week and the way Grant Robertson abused Liz MacPherson."