Look at that image!
NZ is the worst place in the world for poor renters!
It is a disgrace that Labour have betrayed the poorest members of society on Housing!
Jacinda’s Neokindness means jack shit if people are thrown onto the streets because the unregulated, untaxed property speculation market has erupted AFTER her Government fed the machine AND ruled out a capital gains tax.
We are all terribly grateful to her for saving us from Covid, but the free market dynamics she is refusing point blank to challenge are threatening to throw a vast chunk of Kiwis onto the streets.
What’s the point of saving us from a virus if you can’t pay the rent?
The rent prices are being rapaciously pushed up by speculators using property to fund lavish lifestyles.
Fuck that!
If you are a renter, you should be incandescent with rage that this Government won’t modify the unregulated property speculation market!
It’s time to take to the streets! They only listen when we roar!
It’s time to actually use our collective voice around an issue that impacts a huge swathe of New Zealand.
It’s time to demand Jacinda’s kindness means something.
The neoliberal NZ experiment has spawned a baby boomer subdivided middle class whose only illusion of wealth is the increasing property valuations generated by unfettered overseas buyers and slum lord property speculators.
Those forced to pay for their own education and their own retirement are finding it near impossible to enter a housing market dominated by those who haven’t.
We require new law cementing in long term tenancies with rent controls alongside mass public housing for renters and the promotion of ‘ethical landlords’, people who refuse to squeeze every last drop of money out of their tenants for needless greed.
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Central government has to have a plan! It’s the only entity that can deal with this.
There are many hidden dynamics to this and Labour, during their 9 long years in opposition should have got their heads around this. Twyford as Housing spokesman for 6 of those certainly never did, didn’t even try, and ever since his demise, the policy has been insufficient state house construction, (there can never be enough the way we are), then bury their collective heads in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong.
Councils bear the costs of infrastructure to cope with expanding populations and central government policy and PC there is not enough money in it for them Hence, we in Auckland find both harbours are open sewers. Years of crazy population growth under Nationals sugar high immigration policy along with moronic neo lib local politics and rates freezes equals no investment in infrastructure equalling dysfunction in this area. But also because of this council’s have made things more difficult and far more expensive than needed to slow it all down because they can’t afford it.
It is very easy to see Jacinda has no plan, just useless Housing ministers and distractions.
I predict their solution is a laser like focus on Covid from her government’s PR machine, far more than needed, in the hope that housing problems will magically disappear and we’ll forget they ever existed.
While being neither a renter or a home owner I have no idea of what that form of civilized slavery feels like. On the other hand, having been dyslexic all my life, “graphs” have been no more than dust in the wind to my understanding of what they mean even in their most simplified form. Consequently, I have no understanding of their relevance to the conditioning of the human psyche to accept “stress” as a pre-condition to living life in the fast lane. Whatever that is?
I don’t know why you expect anything other than betrayal from politicians, Martyn. That’s what politics has been for decades.
The thing that should really get your panties in a twist is that this was entirely planned. For this reason the Blairite won’t do a damned thing. This is part of the ‘show’ for the rest of the world about the little country that could. Those with a reasonable understanding of economics, finance and not completely brainwashed by the neoliberal dream will see it for it is = an INTENDED consequence of money printing (sorry monetary easing) and pumping this into the banks (who by the way are more nervous than the central government). Taking away economic activity driven by house price inflation would demonstrate an awful economic picture.
This is going to get worse, much worse.
Not sure if it can be “entirely planned” and an “unintended consequence” at the same time.
Sorry, FTT. Read the word ‘intended’ as ‘unintended’. Your logic is fine. My close reading skills need some attention.
A lot of people who can’t afford the high rents are earning the average NZ wage. Combine the high rent with the price of utilities and food, and people are working just to exist. Shouldn’t access to water/heating and electricity just be a human right? How can landlords own 37 properties (or more as the case often is) when there is a housing shortage and kids living in motels? I’m sad to say there won’t be a social uprising because people are scared of homelessness, scared of their landlords, scared of the MSD. The best way to keep the machine ticking over? Keep them poor and powerless.
But can’t we feel sorry for the poor battered landlords?
Fuck no!
Jacinda will look after her new flock and that will be it. 3 more years of sweet fuck all. If house prices
fall, the new flock will be all twitchy, run back to the Natz. We need a good riot organised that we can all get involved at local level to show some people power.
What about an Occupy movement to take over empty houses?
Exactly Rosielee. Chanting slogans in the street for an afternoon is all very well for building community solidarity. But it is going to take people willing to take real risks to get anything done. It will be really risky though. The police may not care if the walking poor are put in peril, but landlords facing repair bills are going to get some serious backup.
We don’t have a housing crisis what we have is a conscience crisis and an impotent PM who is being supported by incompetence. And that why this is all just a dream and we’re already ghosts.
Timing?!
Maybe don’t advocate taking to the streets and roaring in protest on the very day when it is revealed that a pair of Covid positive returnees have been festering the midst of North Auckland for the past couple of weeks (possibly even working at a restaurant, though that is unconfirmed at this time). It’s not like this problem is going anywhere, and I am a bit more concerned about what happens to Auckland’s next lockdown kicks in next week (as seeems probable).
I will be happy to do street protest, for all the good that’ll do, once the gathering rainclouds have cleared. Personally, I think it’d be more effective to occupy empty landbanked residences and force the cops to drag protestors out on camera to shame the Ardern government into action. The occupiers/ squatters would have to be prepared for; prison time, repair bills, and fines though.
What about a riot outside Parliament, or a protest outside Jacindas house.
So by implication you support the riotous insurrection of the US Capitol with the accompanying violence and deaths that ensued and for no reason, which is typical of your toxic comments, and you also want to target the most popular PM in many decades. why is that Gary?
Gary, you never provide logical or reasoned arguments in you comments. You just lash out without any basis but your suggestion of having a riot outside Parliament is very disturbing. It shows your true colours. Maybe you should rename yourself Proud Boy to align yourself with that dreadful group in the USA that Trump supports.
You obviously have no idea about the poverty that many renters are living in and the disproportionate amount of rent they have to pay simply to have a roof over their heads.
Compulsory Unionism,why ever thought, Pike River, we know the honesty, of the Pike River, employers lies, and see know the same, new police cameras and their lies.
Compulsory Union, no excuse.
AOTEAROA.
Compulsory Unionism, is the door step to home ownership.
Our place, daft me you,our place breath grasp our place.
Block yer home place dare say.
How cost, your lives wage,done,now who that left to say,our lives wage for our children!s deposit on their homes exploit.
Connery, best ever Bond.
How come you understand about us, he you, look and understand why we do.
How long the words, lock down the tenants grasp,what,lock down our place of rent exploit,without movement.
Ever been to Glasgow,see the modern rent charge,ever been to Glasgow.
He who you Jimmy,and you lets tear us tear the place apart
Compulsory Unionism,not a fool laugh,compulsory unionism is far from that.
He boss,fuck you,we are now saying fuck you, question, as your knowing .
Sorry Austringer. you may well have a valid point of view, but your written comments are absolutely unintelligible. Maybe you could get someone to help you with your English language skills.
Rentals seemed plentiful before free trade agreements and poor standards of materials/builders/labour, putting another 1 million people into NZ within a decade, Thatcher developer led builds for profits (Kiwibuild), and the woke batting for renters with middle class led gold plated standards and lack of practicality (apart from the state/council housing they are in charge of where healthy homes are not due for another 2 years.)
Go and riot while I will go and buy another rental. There is nothing the government can do about housing. I am surprised that with my 13 rentals I have made over $2 million this year alone but it is the market. After all, I give people homes. Jacinda is my new favourite leader. She always gets my vote from now on.
@ Gary, I don’t think you are helping Jacinda’s popularity with your post Gary Lin, because before the 1980’s to now rentals were plentiful and many people rented out their properties if they didn’t need them, (going overseas, family Bach, farm employee tenants) and most people did not own 13+ rentals and boasting about their profits….
What has not been addressed in these types of posts or thought about in NZ, (because unions have become collaborators against local workers in many cases and on the side of the big business employer) is why wages have stagnated in NZ and working conditions are so much worse than OZ, work is so temporary and getting worse, (subcontractor Chorus models), nobody can get anything done well anymore, and now we have a normal situation where people are paying to work for work visas, people are not paid at all via various ‘legal’ scams like Internships and company manipulation, and it’s now a practise for workers to get the dole and then get paid cash. Meanwhile ACC (taxpayers) pay out for cash overseas workers families and the employer and recruitment agent and those involved get off scot free! https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/illegally-working-overstayer-dies-on-the-job-acc-payment-made-to-widow-in-china/OWADEJMGCUYM36WLF6YNKUA2SE/
So the taxpayers and ratepayers all support developers and when they don’t build in time, they can then change the rules – shouldn’t they have to sell back to the ratepayers/government at the price they paid if they can’t honour the deal???
SHA home price rise up to 10% allowed
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/sha-home-price-rise-10-allowed
Not sure wages rose 11% in that time period.
Trouble is that the other parties (except Greens maybe) are even worse – neoliberalism hegemony at it’s best – Douglas, Prebble, Richardson, Key at al will be very pleased!
I don’t think Garry Lin made 2m out of rent; he made most of it on the capital gain from the increased money value of his properties. Many multi home owners don’t bother with the hassles of renting and make do with the capital gain. They are the problem; not the landlords who let their properties to those who need them. the first thing the government should do is to use their recently awakened power to print money , and use it to buy up any and all unoccupied houses and apartments and let them out. This could be done far more quickly and easily than building in the present climate with the RMA to adhere to and the shortage of labour to suddenly start building things that they are not already building.
The relief of rental pressure so facilitated would reduce the demand for housing and so reduce one of the drivers of price inflation. This will leave only the fact of inflationary expectation to fuel the price rises with nothing to justify those rises. It might finish up being the cheapest way for the government to solve the crisis as well as the quickest.
D J S
People can’t rent out many properties now (aka baches) because they don’t comply with healthy homes. I see what the government was trying to achieve with healthy homes but they went too far because they must have known that when they did the studies something like 90% of houses did not comply and would never apply (like baches). They have taken out too many houses that used to be rented cheaply. They should have had houses that don’t achieve healthy homes standards need to be rented cheaply (aka under 400 p/w) and then as supply came on bought in, healthy homes for all dwellings. Instead they took out the cheaper rentals for all, while not making the state and community homes for the most vulnerable apply first.
Government regulation should have started with state and community housing for the most vulnerable, not the other way around! Weird how entire generations grew up in so called damp homes without any problems tho, and weirdly it’s the newer houses that are the most dangerous to health aka leaky homes.
Two million dollars on thirteen homes represents about $15,300 per home after outgoings. That is possible, even on rent alone.
Sorry, I’m wrong. It should have been $153,000, which he is unlikely to have made from rent. But even so, we are all making large capital gains on our houses these days; and there is nothing to show that his houses are unoccupied. I would be more concerned if he was highly leveraged, in which case his large interest payments would mean he was was paying very little tax. Interest should not be tax deductible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PELeGLnuLKs
On policy level, a flexible mix of rent-to-own schemes will probably handle many of the associated problems; using short-, medium-, long-term options with different types of investors.
Where is the relevant thinking done? Where are the options for public discussion?
Falling asleep on the steering wheel …
This is a matter very much related to a potential ‘Green New Deal’, too.
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