New Zealand has a housing crisis. Thousands of people are on waiting lists for state houses, forced to sleep in cars or put up at horrific expense by WINZ while they wait. Meanwhile, National is letting state houses lie empty because it wants to sell them:
Despite the housing shortage, more than 250 state houses have been sitting empty for over a year as Bill English tries to sell them, says Leader of the Opposition Andrew Little.
Housing New Zealand documents obtained under the Official Information Act show that there are nearly 2,500 empty state houses, more than 500 of which have been empty for over a year. Of those long-term vacant state houses, 254 are empty pending sale. Others are in need of repairs or upgrades.
“In the middle of a housing shortage, why on Earth is Bill English leaving state houses empty why he tries to sell them? We should be building houses, not leaving the ones we do have vacant.
Houses empty pending repair is one thing. But empty pending sale? It's not just waste, its conscious neglect of HNZC's function. But clearly National isn't interested in making sure every kiwi has a roof over their heads - otherwise they'd be building state houses, not selling them.
