More funds to fix, buy state houses

People with leaky homes get less from the Budget but money allocated to fix and buy more state houses rises dramatically.

The Government's Weathertight Homes Resolution Services budget sinks from $17 million in the year to March 2009 to $14.2 million in the year to March 2010.

The $14.2 million is for WHRS to assess the eligibility of leaky home claims, pay for independent technical assessment of claims, manage claims until resolution and provide dispute resolution services.

The fund for fixing the state's 68,000 state houses and buying more places rises from last year's $87.2 million to $115.8 million.

Vote Housing accompanied last week's Budget and showed funding allocated to building and housing.

The total annual funding for building and housing increased from $933 million in the March 2009 year to $1 billion in the March 2010 year.

But the biggest single item on the balance sheet was the state subsidy given to poor people for housing.

Last year's $504 million for income-related rent subsidies has been pushed up to $540 million.

This is the subsidy the Government provides to Housing NZ Corporation to compensate for the difference between assessed income-related and market rents.

First-home buyers looking for state help will get less. They were allocated $9.5 million in loans to support home ownership in the March 2009 year but in 2010 will get just $6 million.

Funding for Housing NZ Corporation debt increased from $170 million to $234 million.

Keeping tabs on builders is going to cost more. The licensed builders practitioner scheme budget grows from $9.5 million to $11 million.

Housing Minister Phil Heatley said the Budget provided an extra $40 million for housing services over the next four years - $20 million of which will go to Housing New Zealand's Housing Innovation Fund to boost resources to the community and voluntary sector for affordable housing.