Kāinga Ora chief executive Andrew McKenzie says he doesn't think the process of building state houses has been slow and costly despite the waiting list being almost 25,000 applicants long.
Appearing on Newshub Nation, McKenzie said the agency has been slowly building up - with about 6700 homes under construction as of a week ago.
"This year [that's] just gone, we've completed almost 3000 homes despite the floods and the cyclones and all of those things and refurbished nearly 750 homes," McKenzie told co-host Simon Shepherd.
"For the coming year, we think we will complete around 5000 homes, plus refurbished another 750."
The agency's figures show it takes two years from design to completing the build - but the private sector said it takes them only 12 months.
When asked whether he thinks Kāinga Ora's process of building state houses has been slow and costly, McKenzie refuted that.
"If they look at when we get an address to when it's completed, we are about average for the sector," he said.
McKenzie noted the private sector is not necessarily comparing "apples with apples", saying the homes Kāinga Ora builds are between 10 and 15 percent bigger and more durable than others.
"When you're looking at the market, they're building a home to sell. We are building a home that's going to last us for hopefully 70 to 80 years.
"It's different and we spec up our houses differently, which is why when we build homes they may well cost more, 10 percent more."
Watch the full interview above.
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