Housing

Voters should ask a simple question about any new housing proposal: Will it make it easier to build more homes? If the answer is not “yes,” these are not the policies Australia or New Zealand need to fix our countries’ housing crises.

Bad government policies are the main reason housing is unaffordable. Said differently, if government wants to make housing more affordable, it could do so simply by getting out of the way.

Being a house is the most attractive job in New Zealand today. If you do not believe me, let me tell you the story of our family home.

Last week, a paper by the Helen Clark Foundation garnered much media attention. Somewhere to live presented the Foundation’s views on housing policy. I read the document with an open mind and personal curiosity.

There is nothing in our housing affordability data we should ever get used to. They are and remain outrageous.

When Housing Minister Phil Twyford spoke at the Initiative’s retreat last week, I had only one regret about having invited him: Our event is held under Chatham House rules.

If house prices go up, it is a scandal. If house prices go down, it is a disaster. That must be the logic by which the media reports on the ups and downs of the property market.

Besides, the construction of 9,000 homes is more than 26 times the number of buyers who have qualified for Kiwibuild so far. It’s a pity that complex finance initiatives do not make for great photo opportunities with the Prime Minister.