Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says there has been significant investment by Housing New Zealand in making its Whanganui properties better places to live.
The minister was in Whanganui yesterday attending a breakfast meeting with the Whanganui Chamber of Commerce at the Quality Inn Collegiate in Liverpool St.
Mrs Bennett said Housing New Zealand (HNZ) has spent more than $31 million on maintenance in Whanganui and Manawatu in the past four years.
When asked by the Chronicle about empty HNZ properties in Whanganui, Mrs Bennett said there was a "fairly short waiting list" here and there were not always tenants waiting to move into properties.
Mrs Bennett said tenants who were asked to move from larger properties when they no longer needed them were given plenty of support.