Budget 2006: 2000 more state houses planned

The Government is adding 2000 new state houses over three years to the current 65,000 in today's Budget.

Housing Minister Chris Carter said the commitment was part of the Government's aim to rebuild the state housing network saying it was depleted by National.

"When we took office the number of state houses in New Zealand had declined by 771 in 1999-2000 despite mounting demand and poverty. The following year we added 496 houses back into the network. This coming financial year we will add 815 and by 2009 we will have added a total of more than 7200 extra homes since 2000."

The budget's $62m capital spending over the next three years was on top of the $597m already earmarked to continue the programme. The existing funding would be largely derived from Housing New Zealand Corporation rental income not being returned to the Crown as a dividend.

"The Government is seeking to put housing provision on a stable, sustainable footing," Mr Carter said.

"To achieve this the Budget draws on work undertaken over the past two years to identify how many extra houses are needed annually in future to ensure the corporation is able to keep pace with demand."

The Budget also included $10m in capital for this financial year bringing to $155.6m over the next years the funding for modernisation.

State housing was an asset worth about $11b.

"Quality, affordable housing is fundamental to the health and well-being of communities and Budget 2006 acknowledges that," Mr Carter said.

- NZPA