INTERVIEW - Geoff Neal KPI.NZ "Affordable Housing, Reality or a Politician's Pipe Dream?"

Summary

In this conversation, MJ and Jeff Neal discuss the housing crisis in New Zealand. They explore the affordability of housing and the government's role in addressing the issue. They also discuss the importance of holding politicians accountable and the impact of media bias. The conversation highlights the housing affordability ratio and its significant increase over the years. They analyze the responsibility of different governments in contributing to the crisis and the impact of immigration on housing demand. The conversation concludes with a discussion on public perception of the housing system and the desire for home ownership among New Zealanders. The conversation covers various themes related to housing affordability, foreign ownership, political decision-making, media trust, and population strategy. The chapters explore the misjudgment of public opinion on foreign ownership, the lack of research and facts in political decision-making, the importance of polling and data in politics, the lack of trust in the media, proposed solutions for housing affordability, graph analysis of housing affordability, the need for ambitious housing affordability goals, the role of councils and land availability, the importance of controlling inflation, housing as a basic human right, the need for a population strategy, and the impact of population growth on infrastructure. The conversation emphasizes the urgency to solve the housing crisis and the importance of informed decision-making based on accurate data.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
02:01 The Housing Crisis
04:24 Accountability and Media Bias
08:22 Housing Affordability Ratio
12:07 Government Responsibility
14:33 Impact of Immigration
20:06 Prime Ministers' Impact on Housing Prices
23:16 Importance of Home Ownership
24:41 Public Perception of the Housing System
26:11 Future Generations' Outlook
27:07 Foreign Ownership of Property
27:22 Misjudgment of Public Opinion on Foreign Ownership
28:05 Lack of Research and Facts in Political Decision-Making
29:02 The Importance of Polling and Data in Politics
30:06 Lack of Trust in the Media
31:08 Proposed Solutions for Housing Affordability
32:32 Graph Analysis of Housing Affordability
33:22 The Need for Ambitious Housing Affordability Goals
36:02 The Role of Councils and Land Availability in Housing Affordability
37:00 The Importance of Controlling Inflation
38:42 Housing as a Basic Human Right
39:31 The Need for a Population Strategy
40:54 The Impact of Population Growth on Infrastructure
44:22 The Urgency to Solve the Housing Crisis

Key notes

1. Renters - we haven’t forgotten you! As house prices go up in price, so too do rental prices and vice versa.
2. Remember that each Labour-led or National-led government has had coalition partners that share the successes, and the failures, with them. A full list of governments for this time range is at the bottom of this page.
3. You can toggle the household income line on and off by clicking on 'Median Household Income' in the legend underneath the graphic.

Data sources

Data shown:

• Median house price in New Zealand from REINZ monthly reports.
• Median household incomes as at May of each year, from the HLFS (Household Labour Force Survey). This data starts in 1998, which is why our house prices also start in

https://kpi.nz/kpi/median-hous...