Leaked documents reveal that the Government’s state housing arm is a basket case, casting serious doubt on the Government’s ability to meet its state house commitments, National’s Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop says.
“Documents leaked to National show that Kainga Ora is a mess, with market debt set to hit over $20 billion by June 2026, a $4 billion blow-out on previous projections. Kainga Ora is still projected to be paying off debt in 60 years, with forecasts showing $9 billion outstanding as late as 2081.
“Kainga Ora’s net deficit is projected to get as high as $662 million for 2023/24, significantly more than the $152 million actual deficit in 2020/21.
“Kainga Ora is a basket case. In the last four years, Kainga Ora has spent a staggering $24 million on its own office renovations and hired 1,700 additional staff, and these documents show they plan to hire an additional 485 more staff by June 2023.
“Despite this, Kainga Ora has added just 21 net new state homes in the year from June 2021 to May 2022.
“The Government’s promise to deliver 18,000 public and transitional homes by 2024 must be in serious doubt. Documents show that officials doubt Kainga Ora will reach this target unless there is a ‘significant uplift in delivery’.
“Based on Kainga Ora’s track record to date, that ‘uplift in delivery’ simply won’t happen.
“Labour gave Kainga Ora a blank cheque book, and this mess is the result.
“Labour has failed on housing. KiwiBuild is a sham, the state house waitlist is up to 27,000 people, and 4500 families are living in motels at the cost of $1 million per day.”
Attached: HUD advice on Kainga Ora financial sustainability
