Housing Minister Chris Bishop is cracking the whip over the thousands of state houses that sit empty in New Zealand, demanding Kāinga Ora work with “utmost urgency” to fill them.

Bishop today released a letter he had penned yesterday to Kāinga Ora board chairman and former Labour minister Vui Mark Gosche after a response to an Official Information Act request seen by his office which showed 3906 public homes, 5 per cent of the country’s public housing stock, were vacant as of October 31.

More than 25,000 people were currently on the social housing waitlist.

The response outlined how 786 homes - 20 per cent of new public homes built between June, 2022 and October last year - were empty. Of those homes, 287 of them were empty for more than 120 days.

“I was shocked to discover how many hundreds of newly built Kāinga Ora homes are sitting vacant for months at a time when New Zealand is facing a housing crisis and is desperately short of social houses,” Bishop said in his letter.

“I wish to make clear my expectation that, with over 25,000 people on the social housing waitlist, social houses owned by Kāinga Ora are not to be left empty for a day longer than absolutely necessary.”

He outlined his expectation Kāinga Ora worked with “much greater urgency” to fill vacant homes. In a statement that accompanied the release of the letter, Bishop said it was “disgraceful” some Kiwis on the waitlist lived in motel rooms, cars and on family members’ couches while new public homes were empty.

“I expect Kāinga Ora to be working through the social housing waiting list alongside [the Ministry of Social Development] with utmost urgency to ensure as many families as possible have safe, warm, dry homes to live in.”

The Herald is awaiting a response from Kāinga Ora.

New Zealand’s stock of public housing increased by a net 13,977 between October 2017 and October 2023. Over this time, Kāinga Ora built 10,116 homes.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced the review in December. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Nonetheless, the number of applicants on the waitlist for a home rose from 5820 to 25,433.

In December, Bishop announced an independent review into Kāinga Ora led by former Prime Minister Sir Bill English into the agency’s “financial situation, procurement, and asset management”.

Bishop cited a report from the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development that found Kāinga Ora’s level of debt had grown from $2.7 billion in 2018 to $12.3b in June.

“Advice released last year suggests that if Kāinga Ora continues on its current trajectory, their debt would reach $28.9b by 2033,” Bishop said in December.

He also mentioned “further worrying advice” about the agency’s financial situation but wouldn’t elaborate, claiming it was commercially sensitive.

The review was expected to produce a report for the Government by the end of March.

Kāinga Ora CEO Andrew McKenzie said the organisation shared Bishop’s desire to see new public housing occupied as soon as possible.

“We are working on ways we can reduce the timeframes that newly built homes are vacant. We are proud of the volume of new homes that we have delivered and we want people living in them because we know the difference a stable home can make.

“Our board is in the process of formally responding to the minister’s letter and will provide assurances that we are working hard to improve the efficiency of our placement process.”

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.