The opposition is up in arms of the amount of money the Government's spending on its social housing policy.

Labour MP Phil Twyford is releasing figures obtained under the Official Information Act that show the Government's spent almost $29 million, and has 129 officials working, on its policy of selling state houses to private housing providers.

He's calling it a scandalous waste of taxpayer money.

"They should be building more houses not selling off the houses they've got, there's a desperate shortage and I just think this is just the latest fiasco around this policy," he said.

"It is obscene National has spent $26 million on consultants advising them how to sell state houses, while they are hounding homeless people to pay back massive debts racked up by WINZ putting them into motels because there aren't any houses.

"Unbelievably, the Government has 129 officials beavering away on how to flog off publicly owned land and homes that should be used to house the homeless."

But Minister for Housing New Zealand, Bill English, said Mr Twyford's comments are incorrect.

He said the costs were spread over a number of agencies between 2010 and 2016, covering a range of activities under the Government's social housing reform programme.

Mr English said the transaction-specific costs for transferring Housing New Zealand houses to community providers in Tauranga and Invercargill have been $2,198,478 - less than 10 percent of the figure Mr Twyford has cited.