A Housing New Zealand (HNZ) trial "options and advice" service has allegedly been turning people away after the options and advice service discussion, without giving them an opportunity to be assessed to see if they would qualify for a state house. HNZ said the discussion was meant to assist everyone that comes through its doors with advice about all the available housing options including state housing, homes available in the private sector, the government services available to help with accommodation costs, and home ownership.

Labour MP Moana Mackey is reported to have said she was not against the concept, but rather was concerned that by putting the options and advice service before a needs assessment process, some of the most vulnerable people could fall out of that system.

People in desperate straits could be leaving HNZ with no home when they were entitled to a state house. She questioned whether the goal was to keep the waiting list from growing.

Another Labour MP, Phil Twyford, raised concerns about HNZ's involvement in a leaky west Auckland apartment block.

Six years ago Pepperwood Mews was built by a private developer after HNZ said it would rent them for 10 years. After structural and leaky problems, HNZ rehoused its tenants but Mr Twyford said it should take some responsibility for the position the people who bought the 32 units found themselves in.

Mr Twyford said HNZ was involved in the design and construction of the building. He accused HNZ of "hiding behind the legal fiction of a public private partnership and in the process you are hanging out to dry 32 investors".

HNZ chief executive Dr Lesley McTurk said HNZ had nothing to do with the transaction between the developer and new owners. However, HNZ was having ongoing talks with the unit owners.