Guest Blog - Political Will

Geoffrey Robert Burns shares his thoughts on the housing crisis.

Plenty people got the leverage to purchase property. Too many people can barely to pay rent. There are more people than houses. Some worked hard for a decade or three and more live in ten bedroom mansions. Some people pay rent week by week for a room in a flat with x number of others. Some people do live in box on t’ side of t’ road. There is both inequality and relative poverty and it can be argued that there is also absolute poverty in New Zealand.

Whether we live in ten bedroom mansions or cardboard box on t’ side of t’ road, we are all citizens and we all have equal rights. Or so we are led to believe. I refuse to believe anything, but I do believe that we ought have equal rights.

Both wings of the political bird agree that there is a housing shortage. If one agrees with the necessity of limitless economic growth then a housing shortage needs to be maintained, so that inflation stays within 1% to 3%, GDP averages 3.1% and unemployment stays within 5% to 6%.

Suppose we do have the material and human resources and the land to create a housing surplus, what becomes of the mums and dads who have invested their live savings expecting to make enough capital gain to retire and leave a family home for their children? Honest hard working mums and dads are the back bone of New Zealand, they are also the people who the politicians want votes from.

If we do have habitable land, arable land for food fibre and fuel, and spare land with raw materials for industry plus a significant percentage of land to maintain biodiversity, what might be the obstacles to building a housing surplus, obstacles to rent controls on landlords and obstacles to medium to long term tenancy agreements?

Can the needs provide all the needs of a constantly growing population?