Work for 1000 so far on state house project

MP Hekia Parata (left) and Tariana Turia (right) chat to Rennee Tupai and Latu Monase, 9 months. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Nearly 1000 people have been employed so far to build and modernise state houses under the $124.5 million package the Government announced in February.

The Government has tagged work to upgrade 18,000 state homes in the next 18 months as part of its economic stimulus packages to help the construction sector see through the drop in demand.

It will also build an extra 86 new homes on top of the 475 which were already scheduled by the previous Government.

Housing Minister Phil Heatley ordered Housing NZ to boost its upgrade programme after discovering the former Government had channelled the money intended for upgrades into buying new homes instead.

Yesterday he and Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia took a "before" look at one of the houses which is due to be modernised in Porirua before the end of June.

Gogo Tupai, her husband and their five children have lived in the house for about seven years. Although clean and insulated, it was cold and its peeling wallpaper, recently repaired bathroom leak and threadbare carpet showed the lack of work done on it.

It is now earmarked for new carpets, a parking area, kitchen and bathroom ventilation and new wall linings, and a heatpump.

Mr Heatley told Housing NZ staff to add wiring to the schedule after spotting a hanging light-fitting with exposed wires.

Mrs Turia said she would be watching carefully to make sure the upgrades were not restricted to "piecemeal" repairs.

"I wouldn't do that if I was renting a house out to someone. In the past, only piecemeal work has been done. I need to talk to Mr Heatley to make sure that doesn't continue."

Mr Heatley said focusing on buying new homes meant existing state tenants were left living in "disgraceful" conditions in homes untouched since the 1960s and 1970s.

Most of the work will happen in the next financial year, but Mr Heatley said work already underway had injected $23 million into the building industry.

He said the extent of work required on individual houses varied. While some needed only insulation, others needed full overhauls.

About 540 people were employed on the state-house upgrades and a further 400 in home construction.

Work was underway or completed on modernising 613 houses.

In Auckland, 23 houses have been modernised and a further 346 will be done by the end of June. Of the 86 homes new homes to be built by the end of June, 30 will be in Auckland.

Mr Heatley said new homes would be either smaller one- and two-bedroom homes or large four- and five-bedroom homes as there was an oversupply of three-bedroom homes.