New Zealand well housed—Mr Quigley

Press, 13 May 1981, Page 6

New Zealand well housed— Mr Quigley

PA Wellington New Zealand has enough houses to meet the present demand, said the Minister of Housing (Mr Quigley), yesterday. in reply to Labour Party criticism of the Government’s housing policies.

Mr Quigley said that New Zealanders were generally well housed, with approximately 1 million houses for 3 million people. “We have a Housing Corporation rental stock in excess of 60,000 and we increased it by 1350 houses last year, housing approximately 7000 families in the 12 months up to. March 31, 1981. ."At present we have a waiting list of 8000, of which

approximately 400 are on what can be called the very urgent list, and we can house most families with an urgent or serious housing need within a reasonable time.

“Last year the Housing Corporation financed approximately 13,000 home seekers into their own homes, which clearly demonstrates the success of the Government's lending policies designed to enable first-home seekers to achieve home ownership," said Mr Quigley.

He said that with an almost static population growth and a Housing Corporation rental stock of more than 60,000, there was no need for the huge increase in State building urged by the Opposition.