The waiting list for public housing has hit a new high - reaching nearly 14,500 households nationally, including 1063 in Canterbury. National is blaming Labour's housing policies and says the government has meddled in the rental market instead of building houses. But the minister responsible, Kris Faafoi, said the government had already delivered some 3300 public housing places, with another 2500 under construction. However, National's Associate Housing spokesperson Simon O'Connor said: "Labour was too quick to meddle in the rental market when it should have been focused on building houses. Demand by regionNorthland: 524Auckland: 5326Waikato: 1494Bay of Plenty: 1120East Coast: 1405Central: 803Taranaki: 255Wellington: 1595West Coast Tasman: 510Canterbury: 1063Southern: 380Other/unknown: 21

Source: Otago Daily Times January 14, 2020 01:18 UTC