Labour gets its housing sums wrong again

Claire Trevett at NZ herald reports:

The Hobsonville Land Company says claims its affordable homes will include a 300sq m four-bedroom stand-alone house for less than $485,000 are wrong – and the biggest it can offer for that price is a three-bedroom house less than half that size.

The Hobsonville Pt development was dragged into the debate over affordable housing in Parliament yesterday after Labour’s Annette King said the Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment had provided information showing National’s affordable housing plan for Hobsonville Point included a four-bedroom house on 300sq m for less than $485,000.

However, Hobsonville Land Company chief executive Chris Aiken said the largest house in the under-$485,000 affordable homes project would be a three-bedroom stand-alone home of 135sq m.

“We certainly couldn’t do anything at Hobsonville Pt for any more than that without a pretty big subsidy.”

He said the affordable homes part of the development also included some 100sq m two-bedroom stand-alone houses for between $390,000 and $400,000 which were completed.

Labour’s credibility is plunging down the sink rapidly. First they finally admit that their $300,000 affordable homes may costs $550,000 in Auckland and now their claim that there are already four bedroom homes in Hobsonville for $485,000 has been shot down. It’s incredibly sloppy work. Labour could have verified their figures with the Hobsonville Land Company before rushing off to the media. This is a failure to do basic homework.