Housing NZ has revealed it will only add an extra 722 state houses in Auckland over the next three years, leading Labour to accuse the Government of "smoke and mirrors" over its promises to address the housing crisis.
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Speaking to Parliament's social services committee on Wednesday, Housing NZ chief executive Andrew McKenzie said the Crown agency intended to build 4900 new homes in Auckland over the next three years.
However, when the demolition of existing state houses was taken into account, McKenzie said there would only be a net increase of 722 houses - just over 240 each year.
Which is better than nothing, but not even a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of people on Housing NZ waitlists in Auckland, let alone the thousands more who can't even get onto a waitlist because it would make the stats look bad.
It is clear that National is not committed to solving the housing crisis. They don't believe in state action, so they're fundamentally incapable of doing what is necessary to resolve this massive market failure. If we want housing fixed, we need a new government.