Release: 817 missing homes expose National's housing failure
20 July 2026
The Government's latest housing figures confirm National’s housing experiment is failing.
“We're halfway through the timeframe for delivering the homes promised in Budget 2024, and National isn't even close,” Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said.
“National promised to build an additional 1,500 homes through Budget 2024. By this point they should have delivered around 750. They've managed just 270, barely 18 percent of what they promised.
“The picture is no better for Budget 2025. Almost a year after announcing another 600 homes, they've built just 263 and the deadline has passed.
“These 817 missing homes are the result of poor political choices.. . Every home not built means another family waiting longer and more people pushed into homelessness.
“Kāinga Ora had a pipeline of projects ready to go. National chose to tear it down instead, leaving builders without work, the housing sector without certainty, and families without homes.
“Christopher Luxon and Chris Bishop forced Kāinga Ora into a drawn-out review, cancelled around 3,500 planned state homes and gutted its project delivery capability. They deliberately slammed on the brakes, chopping 1,300 homes that were to be delivered by July.
“If National had simply let Kāinga Ora keep building instead of tearing it apart, thousands more families would already be in warm, secure homes. Instead, all this Government has delivered is delay, disruption and broken promises,” Kieran McAnulty said.
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By LabourVoices
20 July 2026
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Authorised by Rob Salmond, 2 Gilmer Terrace, Wellington.
Authorised by Chris Hipkins MP, Parliament Bldg, Wellington.