Government pledges to build more state houses

The government has pledged to build more state houses but cannot yet say how many.

The housing minister, Phil Twyford, set out the government's priorities at a meeting in the Salvation Army Church in Auckland this morning.

Mr Twyford told a packed meeting of housing and community groups that the government will put the state back into state housing.

Mr Twyford has committed to stop selling off state houses and reinvest profits from it into building new homes.

He says he wants to build 2000 homes a year but he couldn't commit to that figure.

Mr Twyford says trade-offs may have to be made, with a priority on KiwiBuild - the Labour Party's scheme to build 100-thousand affordable new houses in the next decade.