5. Question No. 5—HousingNICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 5—Housing5. NICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Minister of Housing: Has the Government kept the commitment made in the 2017 Speech from the Throne to develop a Rent to Own" scheme; if so how many families has the scheme helped into houses since then? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): In answer to the first part of the question yes. The Speech from the Throne is delivered at the beginning of each parliamentary term and sets out the three-year work programme for the Government. At the KiwiBuild reset in 2019 I announced funding for the establishment of a progressive homeownership scheme of which Rent to Own forms part of it. In July 2020 during our first term I was proud to announce the launch of the first phase of that scheme with two providers. At that time I said that the first two contracts under phase one of the programme would support 100 low to medium income families who were struggling to pull together a deposit or pay a mortgage into homeownership. Good news: to date 133 houses have been announced with $39 million of the allocated $45 million in the first phase already committed. Twelve families are already living in their own homes while the remainder are currently working with providers in preparation for homeownership. Nicola Willis: Does she stand by her statement that the progressive—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Mr Bayly. Nicola Willis: Does she stand by her statement that the progressive homeownership scheme which has helped just 12 families is a "game changer" and how is it a game-changer for the hundreds of thousands of Kiwis locked out of the housing market? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes it is a game-changer for those families—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Order! Members either want to ask questions and have answers or they don't and if there's that sort of noise again I'll assume that they don't. Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes it is a game-changer for those families that can get into a progressive homeownership scheme. I think what that member and the Opposition need to understand is this is not a conventional way of buying a house. This is not about finding a house on the internet deciding you want to purchase it going to the bank getting a mortgage and moving in. This is often about families having to deal with high levels of debt rebuilding credit history establishing savings history and then getting themselves into a position where they can purchase a home. I think what we need to do is understand that this is a complex set of problems that we are dealing with. We said we would get 100 families in the first phase. We have 133 contracted. Nicola Willis: Can she confirm that the Government has issued more press statements about the progressive homeownership scheme than it has confirmed families in the scheme? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The answer to that is no and I think—[Interruption] I do want to take a moment to say that this is not a laughing matter. This is actually a way in which we get families—for whom homeownership is otherwise cut off—into homeownership and while that member may find that being snide and mocking is the best approach what I would remind that member is that the party she is a member of had no substantial commitment to progressive homeownership. Over their entire nine years in Government you could generously say 149 families were helped into progressive homeownership—that's over nine years. In less than five months we have 133 homes contracted. Nicola Willis: Which has been more successful: National's First Home Grant scheme which has helped 93000 people into a home since being established or her progressive homeownership scheme which has helped 12? Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I think that question belies the lack of understanding on that side of the House around what progressive homeownership is. As a Government we are continuing with deposit assistance and grants for people to help them assist them to buy a home. What that member may not realise—and I'm happy to get her a briefing if she requires it—is that for the families that we are helping into the progressive homeownership scheme simply getting a First Home Grant or a bit of help with deposit assistance is not going to open up homeownership to them; this requires more assistance. I think the sneering attitude that the Opposition are showing is part of the reason we are in the crisis we are in.Brooke van Velden: When will the progressive homeownership scheme deliver 1500 houses given that at current rates it would take 73 years to deliver?SPEAKER: Order! Order! No the member will resume her seat. The member will ask her question in the question form and without the additional point.Brooke van Velden: When will the progressive homeownership scheme deliver 1500 houses if at current rates it would take—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member finished her question.Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The extrapolation that that member has done of the figures is simply incorrect. This is the beginning of the scheme. It was launched in July 2020. We said that phase one would deliver 100 places; we actually have contracted 133. We estimate because this is a recyclable fund over a 10 to 15 year period—of course these are loans; they are repaid—that at current projections over the next five years we will see the 1500 to 4000 rolling out. This is phase one. Phase two is the Māori iwi direct scheme and then it is the direct scheme that will be launching through Kāinga Ora. So we are on track to deliver against the time lines that we initially sketched out.Brooke van Velden: How many homes will the progressive homeownership scheme deliver this year?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: As I said we already have 133 contracted. We've spent $39 million of the $45 million of that funding that was set aside for phase one. We will have more announcements to make very soon about more places. So we have the hundred that we initially said in the 2021 year but then in 2021-22 our projections are that there will be another 300 that will be delivered.Hon Chris Hipkins: What feedback has she received so far on suggestions that having 12 families in their own homes is an unsatisfactory result?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Today I received a letter from the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust which is one of the very fantastic organisations that we are partnering with to deliver progressive homeownership. They did write to me to express their disappointment of the way this was being discussed publicly over the last 24 hours. They said the inference that 12 families is unsatisfactory shows a limited understanding of how progressive homeownership works. They talked about how having worked in the community housing sector for 14 years they know that this is a game-changer for people and that this is opening up homeownership for people that are otherwise locked out. I think they understand that these people can't simply draw down a grant go to a bank get a mortgage and buy a house. Not everybody has that privilege. Nicola Willis: Does she really think it is a good use of taxpayers' money to have put $39 million into a scheme that has delivered just 12 houses when there are hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders unable to buy a home?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: There are several errors in the question that the member has just asked. There is $39 million of the initial $45 million in phase one that has been contracted. That will deliver 160-odd places; 133 have been announced. So that is the first error in that member's question. Do we on this side of the House think that it is important to make sure that we are backing New Zealanders that are otherwise locked out of homeownership into homeownership? Yes we do. We are well aware of the housing crisis and mess we were left by the previous Government and we know there are a variety of measures but we always said that this very expensive scheme would only help 1500 to 4000 families right from the outset. That is the kind of commitment that we need to open up homeownership to a broader range of New Zealanders.Nicola Willis: Why hasn't she ensured more families could be helped into homeownership by adjusting the price caps in the First Home Grant scheme to keep up with rampant house price inflation?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We have already made a number of tweaks to the First Home Grant scheme. One very significant tweak that we made at the time of the KiwiBuild reset is we allowed that to be other than just for a couple to pool their grants and their loans abilities. In fact we made it multigenerational so that what we could see is particularly Māori and Pasifika families being able to pool those deposits and grants in order to get into homes. We also allowed groups of friends to pool those grants that they weren't allowed together. We are always reviewing the caps to check that they are in line with what is required. I think the member is confused and is thinking that because we are committed to progressive homeownership we are somehow not committed to other deposit assistance schemes. We have not only kept them up but we are making them more relevant for the 21st century.Nicola Willis: Does she think it was a good use of taxpayers' money to release a professional promotional video including drone footage celebrating a housing scheme that has only helped 12 families?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes I do. I think this is an important story to tell. Sneering mocking and deriding schemes that are just getting under way is not going to allow more New Zealanders into homeownership. That kind of attitude is what got us into this mess and failure of action for nine years by that party while they were in Government."