Pressure to buildmay ‘compromise quality’
Demand for more housing stock in New Zealand could compromise quality, construction researchers say.
Building Research Association of New Zealand (Branz) senior research analyst Matt Curtis and senior research economist Dr Daniel Du Plessis told Stuff the country’s building industry was characterised by many small firms competing against each other.
The industry was facing a labour shortage along with issues in material supply chains and the increasing pressure to build more houses as fast as possible, a combination that could lead to quality being compromised.
‘‘We see the crisis as a supply shortage.
‘‘Therefore, given the need to build a lot of houses as quickly as possible, we have general concerns about the quality of what is going to be delivered,’’ Curtis and Du Plessis said.
‘‘The potential addition of a large number of houses to the stock in a short timeframe may mean that they will not be as energy efficient and carbon friendly as is necessary to meet targets in that space.
‘‘Affordability concerns continue to be top of mind as well.’’
The researchers said statistics showed a long-term decrease in home ownership levels in New Zealand.
‘‘We expect a larger number of rental properties to be owned by institutional investors at the expense of the ‘ma and pa’ investor.
‘‘Some of the concerns are that those providers may be based over
‘‘We see the crisis as a supply shortage.’’ Matt Curtis and Dr Daniel Du Plessis
seas – in effect, absent landlords, meaning less community involvement from the landlord.’’
Victoria University school of architecture associate professor Dr Morten Gjerde said prefabricated homes could be a solution.
‘‘Prefabrication gives us the opportunity to create buildings in better controlled environments; they can be built more efficiently and to a higher standard,’’ Gjerde said.
He said there also needed to be more solutions outside the current situation of private development interests to solve the housing crisis.
‘‘We have a supply chain for housing that relies almost exclusively on private development interests to build our new housing for profit.
‘‘Another way of creating new housing is for people to work together, collectively, to make decisions that will enable the housing to be built to suit their needs, and where they retain the profit.
‘‘Or better still, build to higher standards for the same amount of money. This has worked very well in places like Norway for the past 100 years.’’
Gjerde said the construction industry needed to take a long-term view.
‘‘The way we build in Aotearoa invites change and upgrading.
‘‘Light timber framing is very adaptable, so I don’t think the buildings themselves present that big a barrier. The biggest barrier in my view is financial, where people’s financial wellbeing is tied closely to the value of their house and home.
‘‘Private owners are resistant to spend the money to upgrade unless they can see a return on that investment within a relatively short period. We don’t have long horizons when we make decisions about housing.’’
He said the future of housing in New Zealand could be more sustainable, both in the way it was built and where houses were built.
‘‘We will be living more closely, we need to in order to address many of the challenges like climate change but also to enjoy the benefits, such as increased services.
‘‘Future housing will also be more diverse, catering to the diverse needs of people. Aotearoa is not as it was in the 1950s, so why should our housing be?’’