27 May 2015

State-house shambles in Invercargill

News that the only potential buyer for 348 state houses in Invercargill has pulled out of the deal is another blow to the Government’s flawed plan to rid itself of responsibility of state homes and their tenants, the Green Party said today.

“The state-house sell-off has been a disaster from day one, and what’s happened in Invercargill is just another example of the Government’s sheer ineptness on this issue,” said Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson.

“This risk now is that Bill English is going to want to sell these houses off at bargain-basement prices, for far less than they’re worth, just to make his sell-off scheme look like a ‘success’.

“Bill English needs to take the hint and take the state houses off the market.

“Let’s not forget that this announcement comes just one day after a Budget that won’t build one extra state house.

“New Zealanders do not want our state houses to be sold off while we’ve got people living in cars and garages, and while there’s 4,500 people on the waiting list for a home.

“The state house sale is a disaster for current state-houses tenants and the 4,500 people on the waiting list, and it’s clearly turned into a disaster for the Government as well,” said Ms Davidson.

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