Posts by Idiot Savant
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This may not be a realistic dream anymore. There are other ways to live.
Politics is one way of making dreams realistic. markets are not laws of nature, they are human institutions, and so can be changed. And that is what people are demanding now with housing.
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Can't they just get on with it and die?
Well, it would save us from Winston Peters.
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The Hobsonville project, for example, is for two thousand homes. Why on earth then, will there only be 300 affordable homes, and 300 state homes?
500 and 450. Partly, I think its for the reasons Fletcher suggests - HousingNZ now prefers to "pepperpot" rather than build entire neighbourhoods of state houses. But also there's the fact that Hobsonville was planned several years ago, before affordable housing became such a big issue. Hopefully they'll be thinking about how to put more affordable homes in there, and hopefully the tamaki development will include even more.
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Oh and I hear on the Natrad panel the ever reliable Joanne Black is already wailing about the effect the hoi polloi moving into her street might have on her property values.
Not surprising. John Key has expressed similar sentiments in the past, calling the inclusion of affordable and state houses in the Hobson project "economic vandalism".
This tells us all we need to know about either's views on affordable housing.
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I'm sure this topic has been covered a hundred times here, but I'm still a little floored by just how demented so much commentary is around NZ politics.
Insanity feeds insanity. Blogs concentrate the loons and drive them to greater heights of dementia, while also allowing them to set the tone (either by infecting or driving out all those who disagree). And once its started, its difficult to stop, unless you draw a cordon sanitaire around the sewer and prevent them from spreading their hate elsewhere.
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The key problem all of this raises for me, is what effect will increasing the competition for the cheapest (comparatively speaking) houses in a particular area actually have on prices?
Which is why the other half of the policy is about the government increasing the supply of such homes. if the market won't provide, then the state will ahve to.
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The demented anger in the comments under Vernon Small's Stuff blog on the speech is unbelievable.
Only if you never read the comments at Kiwiblog. In addition to raving, the nutters also rove.
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Now, about that cheese...
What we need is government provision of cows.
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Because housing affordability is a big issue, and of particular interest to underpaid Auckland journalists.
Meanwhile, the circus has begun. "Tired", "out of touch", "waste", "tax cuts". Lots of "we will", but no details on how. You could turn this into a drinking game (and I'm already wishing I had).
At least Winston is entertaining.
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Looks like Ghet will be getting her housing affordability policy. And it looks pretty good, focusing on the real problem: the supply of affordable homes (as opposed to palazzos). Since the market isn't providing them, the government will be building them directly, as well as promoting the not-for-profit housing sector. Throw in a shared-equity scheme, and it looks like a fairly comprehensive solution, and certainly more likely to achieve its objectives than the right's blind faith in the free market.