The issues political editor Justin Giovannetti will be keeping an eye on in 2021 (that have nothing to do with Covid-19). New Zealand will be busy in 2021. The border will remain closed to nearly all travellers and Covid-19 will continue to lead the news, but the country has a packed domestic agenda of issues … Read more
Stats NZ released a report yesterday that provides the most comprehensive view to date on housing in New Zealand. The findings are not pretty. It’s no surprise to anyone to hear that New Zealand’s housing is beset by great many problems. But it’s quite different to see the extent of the crisis laid out and … Read more
Experts have made the case for tax and interest rate adjustments to address the housing crisis in recent times. Hayden Donnell makes another, highly technical suggestion. There are as many ideas for fixing New Zealand’s housing crisis as there are houses in New Zealand. Political advisor Clint Smith has proposed limiting the tax benefits extended … Read more
From damp housing to unsafe work, doctors see every day the conditions worsening the health of thousands of New Zealanders. Dr George Laking of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians explains the four things we can do make a change for the better. Physicians are specialist doctors who look after people with medical illnesses. We … Read more
New Zealand’s housing market is going ballistic, defying economic forecasts and historic trends. Michael Andrew asks the experts what’s causing the clamour and what it means long term. Six months after Covid-19 first reached our shores, New Zealand’s economy has officially moved into recession. GDP is down 12.2% – the largest drop on record – … Read more
They’re two cities with identical amenities, identical schools and equally beautiful hinterlands. So why don’t more people choose the one where houses are half the price? A friend with a young family just bought a house. It was old, and needed a bit of work, but it was in a good school zone. It cost … Read more
Property Investors Federation spokesman Andrew King has suggested landlords hold off installing a heat pump for tenants, saying a change in government could see the law reversed, and that some tenants don’t actually want new heat pumps. He has Hayden Donnell’s attention. New Zealand has long led the world in two shameful categories: Hobbit movies, … Read more
The quest to create affordable housing in New Zealand is an interminable dilemma. But as Dan Heyworth writes, the issue comes from the old British feudal land system on which ours is based. Recently I was involved in a project that responded to government calls to use off-site manufacturing to bring affordability to the housing … Read more
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change. It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately needed. But we can … Read more
Thirty per cent of the Swedish population live in public housing. New Zealand could learn a lot from their system, argues a former Auckland renter. After many years living in rented flats in Wellington and Auckland, I’ve found myself living in public housing in Gothenburg, Sweden. I’m writing home to tell the tale of a … Read more
In the second part of a new event series looking at the future of Auckland, The Spinoff and Auckland Council host In My Backyard: Glen Innes, to ask what the suburb can teach the rest of the city about housing. Throughout its history, Glen Innes has had the highest density of state housing in New … Read more
Architectural designer and housing advocate Jade Kake is leading a number of projects (and conversations) on the rejuvenation of Māori housing and land. Here she looks at the current housing climate and what needs to change before Māori can have agency over their housing aspirations. We’re at a really interesting point in time politically. The … Read more
Grandparents Mere and Ngaro Pita spent decades in a run-down home. A West Auckland programme for elderly residents helped fix that. Mere and Ngaro Pita’s West Auckland home is literally a labour of love. The proud grandparents live about five minutes’ walk from Kelston Boys’ High School with their four mokopuna. Originally from the Far … Read more
One thing that has set the fight for Ihumātao apart is the confidence with which multi-media digital communication has been deployed to spread the message far and wide. Peter McKenzie looks at the new tools of the revolution. The message was sparse. “Tomorrow, midday, Wellington Cenotaph, there is a rally against the confiscation of land … Read more
Many people were disappointed about the government’s abandonment of the capital gains tax plan. But is there an alternative that could still open up the property market to those currently priced out? I’m just going to put my cards on the table – I am a supporter of a capital gains tax (CGT). I’m an … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Simon Bridges puts up bill with major tax system changes, social media crackdown call unpacked, and lower crowd numbers at main Auckland ANZAC services. This happened earlier in the week, but is worth unpacking because it would be quite a big change to the tax system. Newshub reports … Read more
Today brings confirmation about the depth of the crisis in a global context. We need bold action, not tinkering at the edges. And overhauling the tax system has to be part of the change, write Geoff Simmons The Demographia Housing Affordability Report released today shows our country is losing at housing. We are the worst … Read more
Former ski patroller Julie Scott has taken on a challenge of a very different kind: finding low-cost homes for families in New Zealand’s most expensive property market. Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes they walk among us and perform their magic without needing to transform into someone different. It’s the seemingly ordinary-looking jobs that can … Read more
Today’s housing crisis is the fruit of successive governments failing to put the time, effort and funding into sustainable housing solutions, says Bernie Smith, a frontline social housing worker from the Māngere-based Monte Cecilia Housing Trust. This is an abridged and edited version of the Bruce Jesson lecture, delivered last week This government has spent 11 … Read more
Are people who earn decent salaries too privileged to be thrown a bone by the government? Jenée Tibshraeny thinks not. This story first appeared on interest.co.nz. I would like to thank Housing Minister Phil Twyford for validating my generation’s “Ponsonby problems” as real ones. By setting the income caps for KiwiBuild eligibility at $120,000 for a … Read more
The buyer eligibility rules for the government’s marquee house building programme have just been released. Do you qualify? Alex Braae has the skinny What’s all this then? Remember when the housing crisis became a real thing for the commentariat of New Zealand, because their sons and daughters were being priced out of the market? Well … Read more
Many of the children abused in state care facilities over the past 40 years have grown up lost in the system. Ricky Houghton decided to overthrow the system completely. He Korowai Trust CEO Ricky Houghton comes from the Pita Sharples school of style – a perfectly moussed mullet, a sharp leather jacket and a gentle … Read more
Urban renewal, affordable housing and improved transport – all from a sporting event. Mark Thomas says rather than being a financial dog, the Commonwealth Games would give Auckland’s infrastructure planning some impetus. A government a little larger than New Zealand’s, with a capital city a bit smaller than Auckland, has just completed a six year … Read more
They’ve left wiggle room for some rainy day expenses, but the Labour-led government more than anything has sought to sell today’s funding announcements as an exercise in cleaning up National’s mess. Rebecca Stevenson reports from Wellington Grant Robertson hammered a few key messages in his budget address today: this is a budget that will lay … Read more
We all agree on the ambition – the question is how. 2Degrees Mobile founder Tex Edwards says the market has failed and lays out the case for more government intervention. What is the problem with housing in New Zealand? Most young people, and families who intend to buy one during their lives see them as … Read more
Housing and Transport Minister Phil Twyford responds to Wayne Mapp’s Spinoff column accusing Twyford and Jacinda Ardern of ‘sounding like zealots’ over public transport and affordable housing. In one of the more baffling attacks on KiwiBuild, former National MP Wayne Mapp this week claimed the government is “telling people how they should live” by building … Read more
An old cigarette factory in Masterton, a remnant from the Think Big era, has been re-purposed to tackle our affordable housing crisis. Rebecca Stevenson caught up with builder Mike Fox to find out how a plant in the Wairarapa is producing modular, kitset homes on the cheap. Houses in New Zealand are not expensive only … Read more
Rent Week 2018: With legislative changes set to increase costs for landlords, some smaller players may be forced out of the market. Property Investors’ Federation head Andrew King warns this won’t be good news for tenants. There appears to be a generally low opinion of people who provide rental properties for tenants to live in. … Read more
Rent Week 2018: Earthquakes knocked houses down in Christchurch and, unsurprisingly, rents went up. But it’s a different story now in the garden city, finds Jamie Small. Lots of people left Christchurch after the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, and many who stayed were delivered another kick in the pants in the form of rent … Read more