New Zealand struggles with housing shortage

A petition calling for rules on small houses and mobile homes to be eased was submitted to New Zealand’s parliament yesterday, as residents piled pressure on the government to address a shortage in affordable housing.

The country has the highest rate of homelessness among the 36 wealthy nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation

and Development, with nearly 1% of its population living without a permanent shelter in 2015.

Tiny houses and mobile homes — including caravans — can be an “effective, low-cost solution” to the lack of affordable homes, but are regulated as regular homes with high taxes and bureaucratic red tape, Andrew Crisp, who launched the online petition, said.

“New Zealand has a serious housing crisis,” Crisp, whose petition was signed by more than 4,000 people and presented to parliament by opposition lawmaker Andrew Bayly, said.

“Tiny homes are an ecolifestyle choice for many, and can provide immediate, affordable and dignified housing for families as transitional or permanent residence.”

Globally, the UN estimates that at least 150-million people, or about 2% of the population, are homeless.

House prices in New Zealand have soared more than 50% over the past decade, with thousands on a waiting list for state housing, and thousands more living in their vehicles or in emergency accommodation.

The government in September scrapped the “overly ambitious” KiwiBuild programme, which had aimed to deliver 100,000 new homes within a decade. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has passed laws that restrict many non-resident foreigners from buying homes in New Zealand, and appointed a team of senior officials to tackle the crisis.

Yet the recent Demographia survey of housing affordability showed New Zealand had a severely unaffordable housing market.

There are up to 10,000 people living in tiny homes, and a further 70,000 in caravans, Colin Wightman at Eco Cottages, a company that builds small homes, estimates.

The government is pro-tiny homes, though there is some uncertainty about how local councils interpret the Building Act, minister for building and construction Jenny Salesa said.

The ministry is seeking to ensure “certainty and consistency” in applying the law to tiny homes, she said. —