Mark Y
The defending of rapacious landlords by those on the right is as flawed as the left vilifying good landlords.
Brian H
Could we simply put in place the requirement to build new if you want to come live in NZ? If you want to be a permanent resident, then you have to have the ability to build a new home for yourself, not buy up existing housing stock.
Two birds with one stone - new houses added and existing stock available for the rest of us. It could potentially help the third of the population renting be able to own their own homes, as out-of-control house prices should become more affordable.
After all, shelter is a necessity like food and water, not something a handful of people should be getting extremely wealthy off, just like supermarket owners only caring about how much money they can suck out of the average Joe to stick in their back pocket.
Philip T
In reply to Philip T: In theory it might be a good idea, but we do not have enough doctors, roads, police etc. to service the multiple demands immigrants put on society.
Ratepayers cannot afford rates now; more houses puts more cost on them for more infrastructure.
If they went into high-rise apartments beside rail lines, it might be better.
Stephen H
What we need is a comprehensive first-home owners’ development package with minimum deposit discounted mortgage rates and long-term mandatory ownership terms.
It would not be socialism, as it would be capitalist in nature and focused on getting families into their own homes.
Neil C
Rental crises are a thing regardless of who’s in government, but Labour’s removal of interest tax deductibility was a bit over the top.
I ended up with less despite charging a higher rent. The increase could have been significantly lower if the full deductibility was still in place.
So over-regulating the market does not help anyone. I’d rather have no more than an 8 per cent increase in rent intervention than a removal of tax deductibility. An increase in rates and house insurance didn’t help either.
Paul C
***
Letter to the editor: It seems in academics, our school children are performing below what could have been expected a few years ago, particularly in the core subjects of literacy, mathematics and science.
We’re falling relative to other nations who participate in the Pisa [Programme for International Student Assessment] testing method.
Basic education, the three “R”s - reading, writing and arithmetic - will tend to raise the living standards of any culture or ethnicity.
This in turn promotes aspiration and achievement, and as a so-called advanced nation, we’ve fallen into the trap of believing we can improve on this foundation. Whether we are better or worse than other participants in these surveys matters not a toss if we have a low academic achievement level, and our kids deserve the highest standards in learning.
Society in general only benefits from aspirational learning.
John Williams
Ngongotahā
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