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A tale of two housing policies

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:42 am, July 17th, 2013 - 48 comments

Houses are seriously unaffordable, especially for first-time buyers. Labour’s policy settings will help first-time buyers, the Reserve Bank under the current government is proposing tougher requirements that will make matters worse for them. Parties of the Left need to take this issue and run hard!

Your country needs you

Written By: karol - Date published: 1:15 pm, June 29th, 2013 - 76 comments

Slippery John Key continues with the theft of the common weal, while the Kiwis with the least powerful voices are being neglected. Labour MPs, it’s time to get over your personality politics, your divisions and careerist maneuverings, and step up.

Mana housing policy needs work

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 1:27 pm, June 21st, 2013 - 28 comments

Mana’s housing policy is ambitious, and leaves National’s inaction looking increasingly isolated and out of touch. But there are too many gaps in this policy as currently stated. Needs work.

Who benefits?

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:19 am, June 21st, 2013 - 42 comments

The leaderless uprising in Brazil exposes unbearable inequalities in a dysfunctional post-growth world. Extravagant sports events and expensive stadium contrast with anti-public service austerity measures. Home building lags in Christchurch, while Key looks to asset sales to fund a stadium.

Houston and the cost of sprawl

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 10:15 am, June 16th, 2013 - 51 comments

The Right’s favourite sprawl example at the moment. Sections for $50,000. Wow! But they haven’t asked why new sections in Houston are so cheap. They’ve just assumed its because Houston doesn’t have tight zoning rules. In fact, they do – but their rules encourage sprawl. And, while the land may be cheap, it means much higher living costs – particularly transport.

Slums for Auckland?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:05 am, June 6th, 2013 - 28 comments

Housing Minister Nick Smith had ominous words for Auckland. Hands up all you Aucklanders who are keen to sacrifice quality housing?

Images of our time: ‘shock’ capitalism

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:03 am, May 30th, 2013 - 87 comments

As Naomi Klein said in the Shock Doctrine documentary, disorienting natural and economic shocks result in the wealth being shifted from “public hands” to the wealthiest. The wealth gap, and extent of poverty in NZ is increasingly & devastatingly marginalising good Kiwis. Meanwhile, Peter Jackson is flying high.

The shameless Nick Smith

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:43 am, May 24th, 2013 - 31 comments

Nick Smith has a long history of slippery dealings. He apologises but accepts no blame, then is resurrected: contempt of court, a defamation case, the Pullar-ACC “conflict of interest”, bad faith negotiations with Auckland Council, the Denniston Plateau deal. Yesterday on RNZ, Smith exposed the government’s agenda on mining conservation land.

When an “accord” is not

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:08 am, May 17th, 2013 - 130 comments

Yesterday’s budget is a sop to affordable housing & aims to privatise state housing. Penny Hulse says the government’s related “housing accord” Bill is at odds with the agreement her council has not yet ratified. It overrides local democracy & endangers the AKL “agreement”. [Update] Waitakere News analysis

City Rail Link in the Budget?

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:57 pm, May 15th, 2013 - 45 comments

A reader sent us a comment from another blog by someone who was polled a couple of weeks back. The questions are very interesting, especially once you realise that it’s clearly being done for National and the Right in Auckland (one of the questions gives it away). Have a read, then I’ll tell you why I reckon the Nats are going to fund the City Rail Link in the Budget.

Stealth privatisation of state housing in budget

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 7:43 am, May 15th, 2013 - 35 comments

There’s more than one way to fleece the public of our assets. While attention is the energy companies, there’s also privatisation in the form of public organisations selling of their operations (eg Orcon), and opening public funding to for-profit companies (eg. charter schools). More seems on the cards for our state housing as National offers to give over control to private organisations.

Nats sign up for KiwiBuild?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 6:16 pm, May 10th, 2013 - 26 comments

KiwiBuild has already been a success, scaring the Nats in to producing, in conjunction with Len Brown’s Auckland, a more significant housing policy. The “Unitary Plan” is woefully short on detail, but it concedes that KiwiBuild’s target of 10,000 new homes a year is easily achievable (I guess it’s only impossible when Labour propose it).

Because things aren’t quite tough enough

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:35 am, May 9th, 2013 - 24 comments

Because things aren’t quite tough enough for first-time home buyers yet.

The NZ Herald – advancing Auckland backwards

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:52 am, May 1st, 2013 - 32 comments

To the Herald the Fourth Estate must be a greenfield development on the outer margins of Auckland: a Dickensian space, hiding the poor from the upper middle-classes. The Herald lacks critical balance & equal weighting for diverse views: it scaremongers about the Akl Unitary Plan & undermines public transport.

Homes for all (1945)

Written By: karol - Date published: 7:42 pm, April 23rd, 2013 - 13 comments

The film, Housing in New Zealand (1945) on youtube, shows how the Public Works Department built state houses for all who needed them. The authorities seemed Brit-defined, supply of resources & land seemed unlimited. But can we fulfill 21st century needs with similar political will?!

Meanwhile, in the real world…

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 7:44 am, April 23rd, 2013 - 27 comments

So, John Key, Bill English, and Steven Joyce are now devoting all their energy into trying to stop the asset sales programme collapsing after the Greens and Labour gave notice the excessive profits are going to end, and National confirmed they’re for real by suspending the sale. While the government’s wasting its effort on that, real families are suffering.

Space and density: Auckland Unitary Plan

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:15 am, April 22nd, 2013 - 8 comments

The draft Auckland Unitary Plan is massive and complex. The Auckland Transport Blog helps in untangling issues around intensification vs sprawl. The government & some right wing councillors want sprawl & to delay implementation. The Akl Council website has some cool videos visualising the planned developments. And social housing?

Changing minds; changing lives

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:10 am, March 26th, 2013 - 14 comments

The Green Party held a public meeting in West Auckland, on their Home for Life, Affordable Housing policy – it prioritises children in poverty. It was informative, questions were raised. Mindsets need to change to achieve a good quality of life & strong communities for all.

Akl Unitary Plan: the good, the bad & the debatable

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:44 am, March 17th, 2013 - 39 comments

The Draft Auckland Unitary Plan has much to commend it. It focuses on resource management, responds to the reality of climate change & aims for a more dense but ‘liveable’ city. It has weaknesses, embraces destructive “growth” and raises questions: e.g. about affordable housing & environmental management.

1 in 10 houses being bought by overseas buyers

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 8:00 am, March 15th, 2013 - 96 comments

A survey of real estate agents has revealed that 9% of house sales result in the house going to an overseas buyer. Half say they plan to come and live here – that leaves 5% going to overseas investors. For some reason, the BNZ is trying to pretend that’s a small number. I find it a staggering number. Until now, I would have guess maybe 1 in 50 house sales went to overseas buyers.

Auckland housing: Brown vs Smith

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:54 am, March 7th, 2013 - 53 comments

Nick Smith, of the forked tongue, is challenging Auckland council’s plan for affordable compact housing. It will do nothing for housing affordability, transport, the environment. It is undemocratic, over-rides the council, and will enrich developers.

“Minister for Small Things”

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:37 am, March 1st, 2013 - 51 comments

Yesterday, David Cunliffe,on Peter Dunne’s Student Loan Amendment Bill, & the related inter-generational swindle, labelled Dunne as “Minister for Small Changes” & “for Small Things”. Dunne further showed his support of the “neoliberal” swindle, with a couple of tweets on non-residents buying NZ property, smearing the Greens as racist.

NRT: 2,000 new homes? Yeah, right

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:15 am, February 19th, 2013 - 6 comments

In last year’s budget Key promised his government would build 2,000 new homes. They delivered (wait for it) … 68. I/S at No Right Turn (happy birthday by the way!) takes them to task…

Government report card: poverty, jobs, housing – FAIL!

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:34 am, February 13th, 2013 - 22 comments

The Salavation Army “State of the Nation” report is out today, and, as Metiria Turei says, it makes depressing reading. It describes a nation of increasing inequalities, with those on low incomes, and their children, being hit particularly hard.

$300,000 homes in Key’s own electorate

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 1:30 pm, January 31st, 2013 - 78 comments

While Labour flounders around talking about 4 bedroom houses for $485,000 (who wants a four bedroom house, anyway), Metiria Turei cut to the quick in a question to Key: “has he never visited his own electorate and taken a look at homes such as those on Hobsonville Road, Cyril Crescent, and Mona Vale that are stand-alone family homes costing around $300,000?”

Opposition speeches & ‘Roads of Madness’

Written By: karol - Date published: 12:05 pm, January 30th, 2013 - 54 comments

Debates on the PM’s statement to the House show that this do-nothing government needs to go. Plenty of good ideas from opposition MPs. An excellent speech by Genter against Joyce’s ‘Roads of Madness’ & for public transport.

Complementary Housing

Written By: Ben Clark - Date published: 6:52 am, January 25th, 2013 - 94 comments

It’s great to see the Greens’ new housing policy nicely complementing Labour’s affordable housing policy.

Greens offer pathway to home ownership, better renters’ rights

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 7:49 am, January 24th, 2013 - 276 comments

The Greens have launched a big new housing policy that fixes KiwiBuild and gives renters more rights. The problem with Kiwibuild is a lot of the target families can’t afford the mortgage. The Greens have got around that with Progressive Ownership. A shared equity programme that basically means you’re paying the government’s low interest rate, rather than the higher rate from a bank.

Affordable housing

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 9:39 am, January 18th, 2013 - 24 comments

The housing bubble’s clearly back. More wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. More of the rest of us stuck with renting for life. The politicians are talking about affordable housing. But Labour’s plan’s not affordable unless your income’s $60,000 a year or more. And who could afford the petrol you would burn living in National’s planned exurbs?

Where is National on house prices?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:04 am, January 16th, 2013 - 41 comments

With a 10% increase in the median house price last year, we’re firmly back on a damaging house price binge. Labour has policies that address the issue. Where is National?

State housing vs home ownership

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:45 am, January 11th, 2013 - 160 comments

Labour’s 2012 Kiwibuild policy has focused on building homes for first time buyers. Now we are told Labour’s 2011 policy pledging to increase the state housing stock still stands. This raises many questions: including do-ability and the Labour leadership’s continuing (neoliberal) focus.