This is a Time to Build: Are We Really Serious About the Housing Crisis Part 5

Last week I looked at the importance of financial education. This week I look at the need for more homes.

Everyone is talking about it. We have a housing crisis on our hands. One of the major contributing factors to this crisis is that we aren’t building enough houses for the growing population. Demand is out-stripping supply. Particularly in Auckland. It’s a major issue. The reality is that for too long our housing stock has been increasing far too slowly.

Not only that, but some of our housing stock is in serious need of being replaced. Unfortunately it seems to be at the bottom end of the housing market where landlords and tenants haven’t looked after the property. Of most embarrassment to us as a nation is the fact that many state houses are the worst offenders. They look disgusting. Many of them are poorly insulated, mouldy, cold and drafty. They were built in a time where building codes weren’t as stringent as they are now and successive governments have dropped the ball by not making sure they are liveable. In their negligence they have made a mockery of the name and crapped all over the legacy of Michael Joseph Savage.

Admittedly, there are issues with building new homes that do hold things up. The RMA, building consents, local councils, building supplies, even labourer shortage. All have been used as excuses to try to explain away why we aren’t building the homes we need. Enough is enough though. No more excuses, because the excuses are being used as a scapegoat for inaction.

Some of the so called excuses are important steps in the process and I would hate it if we cut corners with them. We don’t want a repeat of the leaky home catastrophe of recent past. We want homes that are good, solid, long-lasting. They should be built to be healthy, warm, and energy efficient.

But we need to build. Not only that, but we need to reconsider what type of homes we are building. It seems that our average house size is getting bigger and bigger. Section sizes are remaining the same, but the buildings look like they are on steroids. Four bedrooms, two lounges, an office, and at least two garages. It seems more like a mansion, particularly seeing as family sizes aren’t really increasing. We need to relook at how we house ourselves. We need more and we need them smaller. Readjust our expectations of what the size of our houses should be is important. We also need to plan well and strategically, which is why I support the Unitary Plan that Auckland Council is considering. It is an overarching, region wide plan on how our biggest city can grow and plan for growth now and into the future.

 So let’s get building and let’s do it well. We owe it to ourselves and to our children. This is a crisis we can’t pass on to them to deal with.

----------------------------------------------

This is part 5 of a 6 part series. See Are We Really Serious About the Housing Crisis for the summary. Next week, I conclude this series with why I believe we should be focusing more on going up rather than out, particularly in Auckland.