Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

State house numbers face axe

By Sam Hurley
Hawkes Bay Today·
12 May, 2014 09:27 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

HOME TRUTHS: State houses could be sold off in Hawke's Bay to help boost the number to rent in big cities such as Auckland. PHOTO/PAUL TAYLOR

HOME TRUTHS: State houses could be sold off in Hawke's Bay to help boost the number to rent in big cities such as Auckland. PHOTO/PAUL TAYLOR

Napier's Labour candidate says the city will be split into "two halves" as Housing New Zealand forecasts 500 state homes will be lost, but his National rival says the figures are "redundant" and "old".

Figures recently obtained by the Labour Party under the Official Information Act reveal more than 500 homes could be sold in Housing New Zealand's 10-year State Housing Demand Model.

The figures were calculated from a demand forecasting analysis and research commissioned by Housing New Zealand, which was carried out in 2012 and based on 2006 census data.

Napier's Labour candidate Stuart Nash said it was "hugely concerning" to see state housing potentially removed from Napier and Hawke's Bay.

"We have rising inequality. People can't afford to buy homes, can't afford to pay rent and for many people state housing is the only option."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said this was yet another example of the Government not investing in regional New Zealand and could lead to wider social ramifications.

"I think it will lead to overcrowding.

"Unhealthy kids will cost the health system and the education system.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The cost for child poverty in this country is between $6-8 billion. Rheumatic fever costs $2million per child and is a direct result of poverty, it's quite bad in Hawke's Bay as well."

He said a lack of state housing in the region would increase the need for people to be more dependent on the welfare system and reliant on accommodation supplement increases.

"Places like Napier will go backwards and will become a city of two halves. Society is judged by how they look after the vulnerable."

He said Labour was campaigning to increase state housing stocks and provide warm, dry homes for anyone who required them.

Discover more

House left in 'shocking state'

10 Jul 08:23 PM

"There is a growing need in Auckland, I accept that, but the Government must meet the needs of all the regions across New Zealand."

Napier's National candidate Wayne Walford said the 2012 statistics used by Labour were "old, redundant and out-dated" and should not be used when talking about the future of state houses.

"Nobody is going to be displaced."

He said the National Party policy wanted to encourage the housing sector and responsibly manage state houses.

"The composition of the state houses will change but I am confident Napier will have the same, if not more, state houses."

Housing New Zealand chief executive Glen Sowry said HNZ's aim was to ensure there were enough of the right types of state homes, in the right places and to meet demand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"If the demand is there, we will aim to have properties available.

"The configuration of our houses has not kept pace with the changes that have happened in New Zealand over the last few decades.

"We have too many houses in provincial New Zealand, where demand is lower, and not enough in major cities."

Mr Sowry said Hawke's Bay's demand for state housing was fairly stable and not as high as in many areas, such as Auckland.

"We are investing in Hawke's Bay through new redevelopments, such as our new seven two-bedroom units in Maraenui.

"We do know that in Hawke's Bay we need more smaller properties, more larger properties and fewer three-bedroom properties.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We wouldn't be doing our job properly if we weren't constantly monitoring demand and planning for the future. This is part of managing the $16 billion state housing portfolio on behalf of taxpayers," Mr Sowry said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Crowds of up to 15,000 at Matariki fires on Hawke's Bay beaches

22 Jun 02:35 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Taradale flex their Maddison muscles

22 Jun 02:31 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Tararua District Council to install water meters

22 Jun 01:40 AM

Help for those helping hardest-hit

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Crowds of up to 15,000 at Matariki fires on Hawke's Bay beaches

Crowds of up to 15,000 at Matariki fires on Hawke's Bay beaches

22 Jun 02:35 AM

'The twinkling fires dotted north and south as far as Te Awanga was magical.'

Taradale flex their Maddison muscles

Taradale flex their Maddison muscles

22 Jun 02:31 AM
Tararua District Council to install water meters

Tararua District Council to install water meters

22 Jun 01:40 AM
Engineer called in as project to reopen Shine Falls begins

Engineer called in as project to reopen Shine Falls begins

22 Jun 01:08 AM
How a Timaru mum of three budding chefs stretched her grocery shop
sponsored

How a Timaru mum of three budding chefs stretched her grocery shop

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP