Nats’ profiteering from Housing New Zealand costs 5,000 state houses

Labour will stop National’s policy of profiteering off state housing and run Housing New Zealand as a public service to better help our families in need, says Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford.

“National has taken $1.8b in profits, interest payments, and tax out of Housing New Zealand since coming to office. That’s enough to build 5,000 state houses.

“New Zealand is short 60,000 houses, prices are unaffordable, and rents are skyrocketing. Yet National is bleeding our public housing dry.

“Bill English has spent years selling state houses and running Housing New Zealand into the ground. Now, he’s blowing the budget on putting families up in motels because there’s not enough state houses. That’s the result of Bill English’s short-sighted, ideological approach to housing.

“Labour will build thousands of state houses, end Bill English’s sell-off, and stop profiteering from Housing New Zealand,” says Phil Twyford.