Successive NZ Govts of either hue have failed on housing. Phil Twyford and KiwiBuild the most obvious example.
But the downturn in the construction sector has been market driven. It's the private sector not government which by far does the most building. Developments just haven't stacked up financially the last few years (spiralling materials costs, bank interest rates doubling or more, no buyers, falling prices).
But there is a hardly a housing shortage currently. Some parts of the country if anything have an over supply of town houses and apartments. National net migration was less than 14K 12 mths June 2024-June 2025. Basically nothing compared to the immediate 12 mths post Covid border opening of 135K influx.
Building will pick up as the economy picks up, all part of the normal cycle.
Labour's Healthy Homes scheme was a very good thing. For too long NZ's rental homes have been bad quality. But I think the current Govt have retained most of that legislation??
What's happening with Kainga Ora (KO) I don't know enough about. But the new '3 strikes' policy is a good thing. To live in public housing is a privilege, from being in a reasonably wealthy country. In Peru if you can't find somewhere to live yourself, your extended family takes you in. And if you fudge up that, you are on the street. Ain't no state safety net there.
So why should your neighbours (often other KO tenants) have to put up with awful anti social, or downright scary behaviour. Yipe very tricky when kids are involved, but then kids living in a home with loud 24 hour parties, violence, gangs etc etc is a path to nowhere. So maybe the threat of an eviction, will cause at least some to try change.
And for sure almost every government worldwide increased their national debt coping with the pandemic. But with Robertson in charge, for NZ the debt binge went bigger than most. The 5th largest percentage increase among 33 industralised nations, according to this Canadian report. Isolated Aotearoa with the big advantage of totally closed borders, and a health system that compared to most countries wasn't massively overwhelmed. Basically GR and the Reserve Bank went too long with the sugar hit.
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/accumulated-debt-and-economic-performance-industrialized-countries-during-covid.pdf
And for sure Governments need to spend. But you go too far, you risk a credit rating downgrade, with increased borrowing costs for the government and private sector.
But the downturn in the construction sector has been market driven. It's the private sector not government which by far does the most building. Developments just haven't stacked up financially the last few years (spiralling materials costs, bank interest rates doubling or more, no buyers, falling prices).
But there is a hardly a housing shortage currently. Some parts of the country if anything have an over supply of town houses and apartments. National net migration was less than 14K 12 mths June 2024-June 2025. Basically nothing compared to the immediate 12 mths post Covid border opening of 135K influx.
Building will pick up as the economy picks up, all part of the normal cycle.
Labour's Healthy Homes scheme was a very good thing. For too long NZ's rental homes have been bad quality. But I think the current Govt have retained most of that legislation??
What's happening with Kainga Ora (KO) I don't know enough about. But the new '3 strikes' policy is a good thing. To live in public housing is a privilege, from being in a reasonably wealthy country. In Peru if you can't find somewhere to live yourself, your extended family takes you in. And if you fudge up that, you are on the street. Ain't no state safety net there.
So why should your neighbours (often other KO tenants) have to put up with awful anti social, or downright scary behaviour. Yipe very tricky when kids are involved, but then kids living in a home with loud 24 hour parties, violence, gangs etc etc is a path to nowhere. So maybe the threat of an eviction, will cause at least some to try change.
And for sure almost every government worldwide increased their national debt coping with the pandemic. But with Robertson in charge, for NZ the debt binge went bigger than most. The 5th largest percentage increase among 33 industralised nations, according to this Canadian report. Isolated Aotearoa with the big advantage of totally closed borders, and a health system that compared to most countries wasn't massively overwhelmed. Basically GR and the Reserve Bank went too long with the sugar hit.
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/accumulated-debt-and-economic-performance-industrialized-countries-during-covid.pdf
And for sure Governments need to spend. But you go too far, you risk a credit rating downgrade, with increased borrowing costs for the government and private sector.