Dump richer state house tenants to ease waiting lists, says National

Allowing tenants with high incomes to remain in state houses is contributing to long waiting lists, says National's housing spokesman, Phil Heatley.

An Otago University, Wellington School of Medicine research project has found asthma and hospital admission rates are much higher among families waiting for a state house.

Housing Minister Chris Carter has blamed the last National Government and its policy of selling off state houses for the waiting list.

But Mr Heatley said Labour's policy of allowing people to stay in state houses even when their incomes increased was contributing to the problem.

He said figures provided by Housing New Zealand showed the top five after-tax household incomes of tenants ranged between $94,938 and $78,520.

He said Labour had had seven years to sort out waiting list problems, but had failed.

"By refusing to move people on when they reach an income where they should be able to start looking after their own housing needs, Labour is creating an environment where there will never be enough state houses to satisfy demand."

Mr Heatley said many tenants were also in larger-than-necessary houses and renting out rooms without declaring that to Housing NZ.

The research found that overcrowding was one of the main factors in sickness rates.

- NZPA