Govt’s cavalier attitude won’t solve rotten homes

Dr Wayne Mapp - National Housing Spokesperson

“Labour’s George Hawkins obviously thinks all the homeowners affected by the rotting home crisis are wealthy, with $600,000 homes to spare, says National Housing Spokesperson Dr Wayne Mapp.

“That is what he insisted today in answer to questions in Parliament. If he spoke to homeowners he would find many of them are struggling young families who have put their life savings into their first homes and elderly people who have saved all their lives for their homes.

“The Government’s cavalier disregard for homeowners stems from their ideological preference for state rental housing over the aspirations of virtually all New Zealanders to own their own homes.

“At the same time Government members of the Government Administration Select Committee have refused to extend the terms of reference of the Leaky Homes Inquiry to specifically deal with liability, compensation and dispute resolution.

“National believes it is crucial that these matters be covered by the Inquiry. The Committee can now only deal with these issues by “any other matters” reference.

“Submitters should be able to be assured that their submissions can be as wide-ranging as they need to be. The Committee needs to hear the real worries of homeowners and they should not be restricted by the government members,” Dr Mapp said.

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