KiwiBuild boss stands down after months of absence

Friday, 18 January 2019

KiwiBuild head Stephen Barclay has resigned.

Stephen Barclay has resigned from his role as head of KiwiBuild at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, with immediate effect.

It follows a period of uncertainty - it was reported in December that he had left his position at the start of November. He started in the role on May 28.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford blamed his absence on an employment dispute. He was paid his normal salary during this period as the decision to be off work was not his, a spokesperson said.

KiwiBuild is the Government's plan to build 100,000 houses over 10 years.

While it has been a key plank of Labour's policy platform, it has encountered teething issues.

* KiwiBuild head in employment dispute with Government, has not resigned

* KiwiBuild chief executive Stephen Barclay has left the position**

In October, Twyford was criticised about the scheme's first buyers when he admitted KiwiBuild wasn't to help low-income families.

Wanaka's KiwiBuild development encountered a lack of buyers and not all the prospective purchasers selected for the Onehunga development decided to go through with the purchase of an apartment.

Barclay was previous chief people and transformation officer at the Ministry of Health and before that was chief executive of the San Francisco America's Cup Events Authority.

The first 18 families were welcomed into their new KiwiBuild homes in Papakura, Auckland.

When he was hired, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment chief executive Carolyn Tremain said it was a significant appointment.

Twyford's office said he could not comment on the resignation because it was an employment issue.

Barclay did not receive any resignation payout.

Judith Collins, National's housing spokeswoman, said taxpayers deserved answers. 'It seems Stephen Barclay has taken about three months to exit the role after only being in the role about three months, or maybe four.'

She said it was obvious that KiwiBuild had not captured the confidence of the New Zealand public 'as much as it has captured the imagination of Phil Twyford.'

Having a leader 'not leading' could not have anything other than a negative impact, she said.

Act leader David Seymour said it showed the programme was in crisis.

'This is the danger of putting the Government in charge of a massive house-building programme. Twyford must urgently move to cut planning red tape so that the private sector can take over and build the houses New Zealanders need.'

Andrew Crisp, chief executive at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, said he was considering how the resignation affected the employment process currently under way.

'I will be making no further comment at this time.'