Developer: ‘I won’t build for Housing NZ again’
A Waikato housing developer has declared he will never again build homes for the state after a Hamilton home his firm constructed went up in flames.
John Kenel, the chief executive of Cambridge-based firm Assured Property, questioned why taxpayers are investing money to build quality homes for ‘‘people who are not contributing’’ and who ‘‘treat them like crap’’.
But Ka¯ inga Ora has called out his comments as ‘‘stereotyping and inappropriate’’, saying ‘‘everyone deserves to live in a warm, dry home regardless of their personal circumstances’’.
Kenel took to the Property Investors Chat Group to air his frustration after a Hamilton mother and her children had to flee to escape the December 29 blaze, the cause of which is still under investigation.
‘‘I built these mid last year – already destroyed,’’ he wrote.
‘‘Housing NZ is a disgrace. When I drove past a few months ago and saw rubbish on the roof and the mess I was very disheartened.
‘‘I won’t be having anything to do with Housing NZ going forward. We have a very weak government. Why support them?’’
When asked to elaborate, Kenel told Stuff building for Ka¯ inga Ora to be ‘‘an eyeopening experience’’ and found the organisation’s officials to be slow and ‘‘combative’’, with numerous requirements he deemed unnecessary.
‘‘It felt a lot of the time like it was an usagainst-them situation.’’
Requirements such as the thickness of roofing material had made the houses expensive to build, and Kenel reckoned he had sold them too cheaply.
On the open market, the neighbouring duplex-style units would have sold for close to $700,000 and $800,000 respectively.
‘‘They are very warm, very well insulated.
‘‘They would be ideal for a hill in Queenstown, but it is a little too much for a part of the country like Hamilton.’’
Kenel, who has built two other
Ka¯ inga Ora developments in the city, said his ire sparked after he drove past the O¯ haupo¯ Rd homes and had seen what looked like rubbish had been thrown out of an upstairs window onto a roof below.
‘‘Why are we investing so much money to build a house for people who are not contributing? . . . Why are they letting people into these properties who treat them like crap?’’
It would be more effective all round – and would help the ongoing housing crisis – if developers were allowed to build simple, cost-effective housing for people who were compelled to take care of the properties, he said.
But a spokesman for Ka¯ inga Ora said the organisation was concerned by Kenel’s comments ‘‘as they are stereotyping and inappropriate’’.
‘‘Everyone deserves to live in a warm, dry home regardless of their personal circumstances,’’ the housing provider said in a statement.
‘‘Our customer whose home caught on fire kept the home in very good condition, rubbish was not a factor.
‘‘Ka¯ inga Ora respects Mr Kenel’s decisions about with whom his firm does business.’’
Anna Casey-Cox from Poverty Action Waikato said while she had some sympathy for Kenel’s views, taking a hard line on people who had found themselves in difficult financial circumstances was not the answer.
Emphasising that she could only speak in general terms, as she had no first-hand knowledge of the situation, Casey-Cox said putting the poor in poor quality housing only exacerbated their disenfranchisement and frustration.
While ‘‘quick builds’’ that might not last as long seemed an easy solution to the housing crisis, there were ramifications such as effects on the environment through urban sprawl.
‘‘We need more community houses, but we also have to be very careful about how and where we build . . . The homeless population was quickly and effectively housed during the Covid lockdown. There’s no reason why that level of care shouldn’t continue.’’
‘‘You have to look at the wider context. We have not done well by people in poverty for a long time. The situation we are seeing now is the culmination of a lot of things, policies that have been used by governments since the mid 1980s.’’
There had been great reluctance by those in positions of power to distribute wealth more equitably.
‘‘Some people don’t realise, but it’s really hard work being poor in New Zealand . . . They need to be treated with dignity, not punitively.’’
‘‘Housing NZ is a disgrace. When I drove past a few months ago and saw rubbish on the roof and the mess I was very disheartened. I won’t be having anything to do with Housing NZ going forward.’’
Assured Property chief executive John Kenel