NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • 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 / New Zealand

Housing role divvied up as part of reshuffle

By Simon Collins & Claire Trevett
NZ Herald·
6 Oct, 2014 09:00 PM4 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

Photo / Hagen Hopkins

Photo / Hagen Hopkins

Prime Minister John Key has split housing issues across three ministers as National speeds up its shift toward developing social housing by private providers and reducing reliance on state houses.

Mr Key said he wanted the number of houses available for low-income families to increase because there was clearly a need for them, but believed social housing providers should play a bigger role rather than the state.

He discounted a great sell-off of state houses but said the $15 billion stock was a "big sticky asset" for the Government and indicated the proceeds from state house sales could go toward helping social providers develop stock.

"We've seen those social housing providers as better long-term landlords, they've had more flexibility in terms of their approach. We do want to see a growth in the social housing area and we are potentially prepared to put a lot more resources in that area."

His reshuffle will put Finance Minister Bill English in charge of Housing NZ, and he has appointed Paula Bennett to the newly created role of Minister of Social Housing, tying in with her role as Local Government Minister.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nick Smith is Minister of Building and Housing, charged with affordable housing matters, such as construction.

He would also revisit the Resource Management Act reforms aimed at speeding up housing developments.

Community Housing Aotearoa director Scott Figenshow said sharing housing responsibilities among three senior ministers was a sign of the importance the Government attached to the issue, but he warned against separating "social housing" policies from broader "housing affordability" issues.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We have always talked about a full housing continuum. We need to see continuity through that continuum, not making new silos," he said.

Many housing providers, such as Habitat for Humanity and the NZ Housing Foundation funded by Sir Stephen Tindall's Tindall Foundation, aim to help low-income people into home ownership as well as providing cheap rental housing.

NZ Council of Christian Social Services president Lisa Woolley, whose agency VisionWest also provides social housing, said the three ministers showed that National was taking the housing issue seriously.

"Putting three ministers together who have been working in the area of housing already should help to continue the reform programme that they have started," she said.

Discover more

Construction

The rise of the apartment

05 Oct 04:00 PM
Banking and finance

Dollar falls as strong US jobs report fuels greenback

05 Oct 07:58 PM
New Zealand|politics

John Key unveils new Cabinet line-up

06 Oct 12:20 AM
Economy

Property values rise at slowest pace in 15 months - QV

05 Oct 11:58 PM

"Paula Bennett, in her Minister of Social Development role, really understood the issues to do with social housing, so she has got traction already. I think this is a really positive move."

Mr English, as Minister of Finance, was already one of two ministers responsible for Housing NZ, along with Housing Minister Nick Smith. The agency is monitored by the Treasury.

Salvation Army social policy director Major Campbell Roberts said there had been a lot of "setting the stage" for more social housing, and now it was time for action.

"Paula Bennett has shown that she is prepared to take action," he said. "Whether we always agree with that action is another point, but she does take action, and I think the housing area is crying out for that."

He said there was a "desperate" housing shortage in Auckland and Christchurch.

"We have got people daily now coming in with what I would describe as critical
situations," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's a comprehensive approach that is needed. It's not focusing on one aspect. It requires a focus on the social housing area, it requires a focus on home ownership, it requires getting more people in the medium to low incomes into housing. It requires the sort of approach that will support organisations like the Housing Foundation and Habitat for Humanity and ourselves and others who want to get into the social housing space."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Premium
Business

Threats at renowned architecture firm: Ex-worker learns fate, now eyeing law school

16 May 05:02 PM
Premium
Opinion

Mary Holm: Gold's risks outweigh rewards for cautious savers

16 May 05:00 PM
Property

$10m-plus supreme Master Builders' commercial prize to LT McGuinness

16 May 05:00 PM

Deposit scheme reduces risk, boosts trust – General Finance

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Threats at renowned architecture firm: Ex-worker learns fate, now eyeing law school

Threats at renowned architecture firm: Ex-worker learns fate, now eyeing law school

16 May 05:02 PM

Woman hears fate in court, after threats that saw firm go into lockdown, staff sent home.

Premium
Mary Holm: Gold's risks outweigh rewards for cautious savers

Mary Holm: Gold's risks outweigh rewards for cautious savers

16 May 05:00 PM
$10m-plus supreme Master Builders' commercial prize to LT McGuinness

$10m-plus supreme Master Builders' commercial prize to LT McGuinness

16 May 05:00 PM
Opinion: $9 broccoli? Why NZ needs to put vegetables front and centre

Opinion: $9 broccoli? Why NZ needs to put vegetables front and centre

16 May 04:59 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

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
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP