Former KiwiBuild boss Stephen Barclay is pursuing a constructive dismissal case with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, and says the complaints about him were the result of a "direct management style".

He said the complaints came as he attempted to meet KiwiBuild's targets "at pace" and says when he was suspended the policy's one year target was still in reach.

But State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes is backing the ministry and says Barclay's comments are inaccurate.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford has now admitted that one-year target of 1000 homes by July 1 is unreachable.

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Barclay stopped working as the head of the KiwiBuild unit late last year with no explanation offered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD). Twyford eventually confirmed there was an employment dispute.

On Monday MHUD chief executive Andrew Crisp confirmed that Barclay had resigned in January and said the issue stemmed from complaints about Barclay's "leadership behaviour" received from "employees, contractors, and stakeholders".

"The allegations reflected behaviours that are not consistent with standards expected of senior public servants," Crisp said.

"I commenced an employment investigation into those allegations. While the investigation was ongoing, Mr Barclay resigned."

"There was no exit payment or confidential deal reached with Mr Barclay. Mr Barclay resigned with immediate effect and received no payment in lieu of notice."

Barclay put out a statement following the news on Monday pushing back at the complaints. He said divulging the existence of the complaints was itself a breach of privacy.

The statement also revealed that Barclay is pursuing a constructive dismissal case - essentially alleging that he was forced to resign and taking the Government to court over it.

"Mr Barclay was employed by MBIE from July to October 2018 when the KiwiBuild programme was transferred to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. During this period, there were no issues raised about his performance, management style or leadership," a spokeswoman for Barclay said.

"Within two weeks of the KiwiBuild programme moving to MHUD, he can confirm there were a small number of complaints from individuals who held a close relationship to the CEO, Mr Crisp. The nature of the complaints related to Mr Barclay's direct management style and dealings with certain individuals."

"They were entirely linked to the implementation of the KiwiBuild programme which was Mr Barclay's only remit. His commitment was to execute against the targets of the KiwiBuild programme, and he was attempting to do this at pace."

"As soon as Mr Barclay was informed of the complaints, he responded to them within the week, requesting the complaints be independently investigated and additional people relevant to the complaints be questioned. These requests were repeatedly denied and Mr Barclay was suspended from his role for more than two months."

"This made his position untenable and led to him resign in his and the KiwiBuild programme's best interests. At the point in which he was suspended, the number of KiwiBuild homes were on track to meet the Year One target."

The KiwiBuild team has been run by the head of Crisp's office Brad Ward in Barclay's absence.

SSC BACKS MINISTRY

State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has backed Crisp's actions and says Barclay's statement contains inaccuracies.

"I am satisfied with the way the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has managed this employment matter involving the head of KiwiBuild, Mr Barclay," Hughes said.

"I am acquainted with the facts of this case and they do not support a number of statements in the media release issued by Mr Barclay's Public Relations Company today."

MHUD have declined to tell Stuff what Barclay's salary was.

Barclay is a high-flyer in both the commercial and public sector.

He helped run the America's Cup in San Francisco and was the Chief People and Transformation Officer for the Ministry of Health.

As the general manger of Fletcher Construction he was involved in the building of Auckland's Sky Tower.

Labour's KiwiBuild policy aims to build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 years.

But thus far the policy has fallen far short of expectations: Just 300 homes are expected to be completed by July 1 2019, 700 below a target of 1000.

Twyford did not blame this miss on Barclay's departure but said it "hadn't helped".

His office declined to comment on the news of Barclay's resignation, saying it would not be appropriate as it was an employment matter.