Social housing programme open to overseas buyers

Finance Minister Bill English

On Saturday, Finance Minister Bill English told TV3’s The Nation that the planned transfer of state houses to community housing providers (CHPs) could involve overseas providers.

English said that Australian or British social housing providers could purchase state houses if they registered as a CHP and showed they could manage the properties and look after the tenants.

For example, English said Queensland-based not-for-profit housing provider Horizon Housing has expressed interest in buying as many as 500 state-owned houses in New Zealand.

While the organisation would have to meet all the necessary criteria, English said the government was interested in working with them.

Prime Minister John Key told media he was open to doing business with Horizon Housing.

He pointed to UK firm Serco, which operates Mt Eden Prison, as an example of an overseas provider running a social service in New Zealand.

Opposition parties were up in arms about the announcement.

Labour’s Housing spokesperson Phil Twyford said it showed that the state house sell off policy had collapsed due to problems finding CHPs to work with.

“The government has had to admit that opening up this multi-billion dollar public asset to property developers and banks is the only way it can make it work.”

But Twyford said English hadn’t provided a scrap of evidence that Australian companies in cahoots with property developers would do a better job of delivering state housing than the government.

Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said the announcement was prompted by a lack of interest from potential New Zealand buyers.

It meant that Australian businesses and charities could potentially become some of the wealthiest and most powerful landlords in New Zealand, she said.

“John Key’s Government is notoriously short-sighted and selling off state houses to foreign interests is yet another example of this.”

Turei said the National government should be doing its job and building more state houses and more affordable housing.

However, as landlords.co.nz has reported, CHPs have previously expressed interest in partnering with commercial entities to achieve better social and affordable housing results.

And some registered CHPs, such as Habitat for Humanity New Zealand, are actually members of broader international not-for-profit housing organisations.

Meanwhile, Horizon Housing has stated that partnerships are a cornerstone of its business philosophy.

It actively encourages those interested in working with them to make contact.

In Australia, Horizon Housing is involved in the provision of both community housing and affordable housing.

Horizon chief executive Jason Cubit told The Nation they were good at it and that is why they were interested in moving into New Zealand.