Megan Woods’ claim that KiwiBuild is ‘alive and well’ is truly extraordinary, National’s Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“KiwiBuild has delivered just over 1300 homes in nearly four years of operation - just 1.3 per cent of its 100,000 target.

“In what universe is that ‘alive and well’? Instead, KiwiBuild is the most significant public policy failure in recent New Zealand political history.

“The Spinoff is a typically funny news site, but Megan Woods’ recent op-ed defending KiwiBuild was filed under political opinion and not satire, where it clearly belongs.

“This Government is good at spin, but they can’t hide from the dire figures.”

• Just 1300 KiwiBuild homes have been delivered so far.
• The state house waiting list has just hit a record high with over 27,000 people waiting for a house.
• Rents are up by $150 per week on average in the last four years.
• More than 4500 Kiwi kids will wake up tomorrow living in a motel paid for by the Government.

“Incredibly, Kāinga Ora has actually removed more state homes in this financial year than they have built. According to the Government’s Housing Dashboard, in the current financial year since 1 July, Kāinga Ora has built 599 new public homes but removed 613, having a net effect of removing 14 homes from the public housing stock.

“Labour has utterly failed to deliver on housing.”