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Urban land use planning systems that load councils with the costs of urban growth while letting councils decide whether new housing can be built are a recipe for failure. This underpins a decade of low build rates, a substantial housing shortage, and skyrocketing house prices. Read more

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. That is what it must be like for the government in the housing crisis. Read more

Everyone knows that the status quo with respect to housing is “unsustainable”. The Prime Minister now seems to recognise the need for fundamental change and the opposition has recently offered to work with the government to find non-partisan solutions. Read more

New Zealand’s housing is a national catastrophe. House prices have gone up by 37% nationally since 2015, according to ANZ. Read more

If land use and housing regulations prevent metropolitan areas from growing up or out as demand for housing increases, there is only one avenue of adjustment left. Prices increase. Read more

Imagine an optimistic and hard-working young couple hoping to raise a family in their own house. Thousands of them are flicking through property listings each weekend. Read more

One of the shortest jokes about economics goes like this: Teach a parrot to say supply and demand, and you have created an economist. But there is an even better joke: Teach a parrot to say demand and demand, and you have created a politician. Read more

Last Sunday, Wellington mayor Andy Foster joined a protest at a housing development at Shelly Bay. Wearing suit and tie, he pitched tents to support the occupation but then later told media he thought it was merely a “community gathering.” Regardless, Foster’s attendance at the protest was inescapably seen as going against his own council, which days earlier voted to support the $500 million project. Read more