may 9, 2002 - Govt housing expenditure focus on Auckland

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Wellington, May 9 - Opposition parties today criticised the Government's $187 million funding housing package for low income people for creating state dependency and doing little to ease housing pressure in Auckland.

Housing Minister Mark Gosche and his associate Tariana Turia said in a joint statement the $186.8m funding, being announced ahead of the May 23 budget, was spread over the next four years.

They said:

* $71.99m would be spent over the next four years to build 360 state houses, mainly in Auckland. The 360 homes were additional to the 2169 state houses the Government had already planned to build during that period.

Of this, $21.11m would be spent in the 2002/03 financial year, $16.8m in 2003/04, $16.96m in 2004/05 and $17.12m the year after.

* $53.34m would be spent providing 500 affordable rental homes for families living in derelict or makeshift dwellings in Northland, East Cape and the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

In the first year, $7.84m would be spent, with $12.41m allocated in 2003/04, $19.07m in 2004/05 and $14.03m in 2005/06.

* $29.98m would go to the "healthy housing" programme that was aimed at reducing overcrowding in Housing New Zealand homes in South Auckland to reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as meningococcal disease.

The spending across the four years was $4.02m in 2002/03, $8.58m in 2003/04, $8.66m in 2004/05 and $8.73m in 2005/06.

* $20.53m was for Housing New Zealand to buy and modify community homes for residents of Nelson's Braemar Hospital and Levin's Kimberley Centre.

This spending was across three years - $7.14m in 2002/03, $6.92m in 2003/04 and $6.47m in 2004/05.

* $11m would go towards providing another 50 community houses for vulnerable people - including women and children seeking refuge, people with physical or intellectual disabilities and those with a mental illness.

Some $2.75m would be spent each of the four years to do this.

Source: OPPOSITION PARTIES FIND LITTLE FAVOUR WITH HOUSING PACKAGE.
685 words
9 May 2002
New Zealand Press Association
NZPA

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