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Sallies back state housing ideas

Author
Annette Lunn, Felix Marwick ,
Publish Date
Mon, 17 Aug 2015, 11:53AM

Sallies back state housing ideas

Author
Annette Lunn, Felix Marwick ,
Publish Date
Mon, 17 Aug 2015, 11:53AM

The Salvation Army believe its a good move by the government to lease state houses rather than sell them.

Finance Minister Bill English has signalled the government will investigate the possibility of leasing state houses to social housing providers as opposed to selling them.

Salvation Army housing spokesman Campbell Roberts said it would make it a more appealing option for some groups.

"That will enable people to become involved in ways that they couldn't become involved if they had to stump up with all the money for the purchase of them."

Roberts said affordability is just one of the issues, so it's too early on for the Salvation Army to decide if they'd lease state houses.

However Labour MP Phil Twyford said English's idea has the whiff of a back-down and is calling for the minister to drop what he's calling an "ideological experiment".

Green Party Co-Leader Metiria Turei says English should go back to the drawing board and investigate an approach that might actually benefit tenants, rather than offering to lease state houses out to whoever's interested.

 

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