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Re shortage of rental homes.
There has been a lot of publicity on this subject, mostly blaming greedy landlords and rapacious property managers, and those attacks are so far off the mark that they have no relevance in getting a solution.
A solution, however, is remarkably easy.
1) Make ownership of rental property much easier - scrap the 40 per cent deposit rule, allow better tax breaks.
2) Stop excessive costs for developers being loaded on to new builds by local authorities.
3) Make tenancy laws work better for a landlord in order to encourage them to stop selling their rental stock, such as allowing unpaid rents to attract penalty interest - after all if the rent is not paid then the owner's mortgage doesn't get paid and the bank will charge interest.
4) WoF for rental property; a sound idea on the face of it, but if there is a big supply of rental homes then the roughies will remain empty, so fixing the supply problem actually will provide a much better scenario for tenants. Tenants in scruffy dumps will vote with their feet whereas now they are too scared to vacate for fear of not finding an alternative and stupid, greedy landlords will have vacant rental property.
5) Increased supply will mean lower rents. I would have thought the politicians would have grasped that by now?
6. Investors have a choice on where to invest, some choose housing, some choose shares, and, at the moment, shares are looking much more attractive.
Attacking landlords and property managers is totally counter-productive.
[ABRIDGED]
RICHARD EVANS
Rotorua Rentals
Instead of celebrating the fact that we are nuclear-free why can't New Zealand scientists have a look at re-engineering nuclear energy to see if it can be produced without any harmful side effects.
It was developed specifically for use as a weapon, that does not mean it cannot be developed as a pure, clean energy. If it can be done, then New Zealand scientists can do it.
PHIL NEWMAN
Rotorua
What a mean and miserable way to treat the British Lions on their arrival in Rotorua.
After all the quite understandable fuss that has been made of the Maori All Blacks, surely a warm and enthusiastic welcome could have been offered to the Lions team.
I feel quite ashamed of Rotorua. As someone said, 'Where's the love?'
SYLVIA PHILLIPS
Rotorua
Do we need an investigation into the cartel of petrol suppliers in NZ?
Last year crude oil was $110 a barrel and petrol was about $2 a litre. Today crude oil is $50 a barrel and petrol is $1.80 a litre.
That means oil has fallen over 50 per cent but petrol, which is entirely derived from oil, has fallen less than 10 per cent.
Is it because of the local condensate we produce, that costs more? Or maybe the ethanol that must be introduced?
How can a price drop of 50 per cent produce literally no effect at the pump, unless there is a price-fixing cartel, which despite the government's best intentions, is illegal.
GJ PHILIP
Rotorua
A woman, 25, has been charged with assault.