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@Kirwan national has vaguely stated they want to reopen the housing market to foreign buyers one of labours few decent moves. That's a no for me. I believe that goes heavily against what the country wants, so its poor politics too.
I vote completely on policy I dont watch much tv.
I want better immigration control(ie much less than the 70k )and less dumb shit basically (free tertiary education carbon agreements) and some plan to stimulate business investment and innovation. -
@muddyriver fair enough, thats the right way to look at it IMO.
Not sure I agree about the overseas investment, I think that's made rent more expensive in Auckland as investors leave the market or don't have access anymore. It shouldn't be a free for all, but we shouldn't demonise it either.
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National have mentioned tax cuts if they get in, surely the better option would be to look at our tax brackets, which will essentially be doing the same thing but with a longer term view?
The lower ones all need to be adjusted, when was the last time they were adjusted?
$70k+ is the top bracket...a few different results out there when trying to find the ave NZ salary, but it ranges from around $65k to $75k on a few pages I found, which means that average earners in NZ are likely in the top tax bracket...surely that is wrong?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/110523771/100k-a-lot-or-a-little-whats-wealthy-in-nz-in-2019
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@Kirwan said in NZ Politics:
Not sure I agree about the overseas investment, I think that's made rent more expensive in Auckland as investors leave the market or don't have access anymore. It shouldn't be a free for all, but we shouldn't demonise it either.
It's a supply issue. Lot's of people want to live in Auckland but it's been too difficult to build over the years.
I dislike the language that is directed at landlords too. They provide a service to renters. That's true regardless of where the owner is located or how many properties they have. Limiting the supply of landlords to boost home ownership will not lower rents
Worried about speculators in the Auckland market? Well that caused by the supply problem too
Labour & National created this problem and they have no plan to fix it. They'll just tinker around, dealing with symptoms and never get to the root cause.
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I'd argue it's difficult to set a number for immigration without thinking about the demand side part of the equation. A lot of people in NZ do want a lower number, but if so...
- Which industries and employers don't we want to have access to migrant workers? And/or
- Which part of the economy do we want to stop growing?
The 70k figure is raised to consciousness by the media debate, but I suspect it doesn't always mean what the average punter thinks it means.
I.e. in the 2018/19 June financial year there were 242,367 people approved for temporary work visas in NZ: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/statistics/statistics-work-applications-approved-by-occupation
If we want to, say, "make the local unemployed do more of those these jobs instead", what will our employers do about the shortfall between that 242,367 figure... and the 143,000 people currently on a job seeker benefit? https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/401188/number-of-people-on-jobseeker-benefit-climbs-10-percent (those two numbers aren't a complete labour market comparison, but does illustrate the extent of demand)
There are good conversations to be had about labour use and labour practices in some industries, but I'm not convinced that reducing the residency range or PLT arrivals and departures solves that well for anyone.
(And do we really want our own Mum or Granny being looked after in a rest home by a proverbial disaffected 19 year old who is being "made" to work there as a carer...)
There are perhaps some unintended consequences of the 'foreign home ownership ban' on how soon skilled migrants can buy a house.... we're happy to have, say, skilled surgeon's/oncologists etc to reduce our DHB waiting lists... but just don't buy a house for a while on arrival though please...
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@Donsteppa it is a complicated problem but I think there needs to be a degree of control. Our neighbours are mainland chinese with residency (I assume). They bought a neighbouring property for far in excess of its CV and I would not be surprised if they continue to snap up property, and I am sure that I could no longer afford to buy in our street. They spend no more than 6 months in NZ, the rest in China. I don't think that is right.
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@canefan said in NZ Politics:
@Donsteppa it is a complicated problem but I think there needs to be a degree of control. Our neighbours are mainland chinese with residency (I assume). They bought a neighbouring property for far in excess of its CV and I would not be surprised if they continue to snap up property, and I am sure that I could no longer afford to buy in our street. They spend no more than 6 months in NZ, the rest in China. I don't think that is right
I agree - my hunch is that both major parties talk past each other on "banning Johnny Foreigner" and that the nuance is lost in the rhetoric.
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In general we are far too generous as a nation. Why should migrants of any kind be able to get WINZ help immediately? Coming from countries that have no social welfare it must be like a dream. I know more than one person whose parents brought them to NZ for free high schooling and cheap uni education and when it was done they pissed off back to Asia never to return. It's not just asians, but I will used that example. My sister lives in Oz and they get little or no government help. Isn't the privilege of living here enough? The aussies have it right
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@Duluth said in NZ Politics:
@Kirwan said in NZ Politics:
Not sure I agree about the overseas investment, I think that's made rent more expensive in Auckland as investors leave the market or don't have access anymore. It shouldn't be a free for all, but we shouldn't demonise it either.
It's a supply issue. Lot's of people want to live in Auckland but it's been too difficult to build over the years.
I dislike the language that is directed at landlords too. They provide a service to renters. That's true regardless of where the owner is located or how many properties they have. Limiting the supply of landlords to boost home ownership will not lower rents
Worried about speculators in the Auckland market? Well that caused by the supply problem too
Labour & National created this problem and they have no plan to fix it. They'll just tinker around, dealing with symptoms and never get to the root cause.
That renting issue will get worse once landlords lose the ability to kick out problem tenants (Labour proposal). Who'd be a landlord then?
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@canefan said in NZ Politics:
In general we are far too generous as a nation. Why should migrants of any kind be able to get WINZ help immediately? Coming from countries that have no social welfare it must be like a dream. I know more than one person whose parents brought them to NZ for free high schooling and cheap uni education and when it was done they pissed off back to Asia never to return. It's not just asians, but I will used that example. My sister lives in Oz and they get little or no government help. Isn't the privilege of living here enough? The aussies have it right
They have to be a resident first? https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/pensions/travelling-or-moving/moving-to-nz/residency-requirements-for-new-zealand-benefits-and-pensions.html
Not many would be eligible on arrival on the whole.
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@Donsteppa said in NZ Politics:
@canefan said in NZ Politics:
In general we are far too generous as a nation. Why should migrants of any kind be able to get WINZ help immediately? Coming from countries that have no social welfare it must be like a dream. I know more than one person whose parents brought them to NZ for free high schooling and cheap uni education and when it was done they pissed off back to Asia never to return. It's not just asians, but I will used that example. My sister lives in Oz and they get little or no government help. Isn't the privilege of living here enough? The aussies have it right
They have to be a resident first? https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/pensions/travelling-or-moving/moving-to-nz/residency-requirements-for-new-zealand-benefits-and-pensions.html
Not many would be eligible on arrival on the whole.
I think you have me there.... Once they get residency the bank is open
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@Kirwan said in NZ Politics:
That renting issue will get worse once landlords lose the ability to kick out problem tenants (Labour proposal). Who'd be a landlord then?
They have made being a landlord very unattractive all around. From overly protecting tenants to the insurance declarations. I have no problem with landlords having to provide healthy, warm properties though.
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@Snowy said in NZ Politics:
They have made being a landlord very unattractive all around. From overly protecting tenants to the insurance declarations. I have no problem with landlords having to provide healthy, warm properties though.
I'll probably become a landlord later this year. The place I'll be renting out is my current residence that I've lived in comfortably for a few years.. a nice warm modest city apartment.
However it does not meet the heating standards. It's not a huge cost getting it up to standard but it is a bit silly
If you set standards too high you essentially make renting to lower income earners illegal.
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@Duluth Yeah has to be a balance between cost effectiveness for the landlord, and the tenants well being. Some of the requirements are a bit daft.
@Duluth said in NZ Politics:
If you set standards too high you essentially make renting to lower income earners illegal.
True, but I actually managed to get a very large rebate on insulation when I purchased a rental a few years back as the tenant was a community services card holder (or suchlike). So was happy to spend the money to upgrade the place.
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@Snowy said in NZ Politics:
@Kirwan said in NZ Politics:
That renting issue will get worse once landlords lose the ability to kick out problem tenants (Labour proposal). Who'd be a landlord then?
They have made being a landlord very unattractive all around. From overly protecting tenants to the insurance declarations. I have no problem with landlords having to provide healthy, warm properties though.
You should read this article.... this UN housng 'expert' fails at the very fist step, and people wonder hwy the UN is loathed..
Yeah what could go wrong with the rental supply if you made landlords offer the offer govt their rentals for homeless folks whilst also freezing rents....
"What I haven't seen here yet is enough gutsy innovation," Farha said.
"In Germany they are looking a five-year rent freeze. Even in New York they are looking at more edgy tenancy laws."
*"What if every time a landlord had a vacant property they had to offer it to the Government who could rent if or a person in need?"
Asked if moves like a rent-freeze would be possible given the strength of the landlord-lobby in New Zealand, Farha said the Government should pay attention to human rights holders.
"They shouldn't be beholden to a landlord lobby."
The Government ditched the idea of a CGT last year and has shrunk away from serious controls on rents."
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in NZ Politics:
and people wonder hwy the UN is loathed..
Indeed. Bloody idiots.
@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in NZ Politics:
Yeah what could go wrong with the rental supply if you made landlords offer the offer govt their rentals for homeless folks whilst also freezing rents....
Indeed, again. You could even say "what rental supply" if they did that and then there would be an outcry about the number of homeless that they had created.
Rentals are pretty low yield investment a lot of the time anyway, and a capital gain lock in is generally where a decent return is achieved. Tax that and you have a whole bunch of rentals on the market again and rising rents due to supply limitations. Those sorts of "ideas" really would have unintended, but very predictable, outcomes.
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback said in NZ Politics:
should read this article.... this UN housng 'expert' fails at the very fist step, and people wonder hwy the UN is loathed..
I was listening to that on TV this morning and while I agree there are big issues without housing, but a Human Rights issue? Jeez!
How do you enforce a rent freeze?
Will the Govt provide an indepth study into appropriate rental costs first, to determine what should be charged? What happens if some areas anaysis shows rents are too low?
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@taniwharugby said in NZ Politics:
How do you enforce a rent freeze?
Actually not too difficult. A lot of lower price rental payment come from WINZ so that is an easy one, they just won't hand out any increased rent payments. In other cases tenants can just report a rent increase to whatever authority took on the role of policing it (Tenancy tribunal?). Landlords are going to find it hard to evict tenants anyway, so there is little jeopardy for the renter.
@taniwharugby said in NZ Politics:
Will the Govt provide an indepth study into appropriate rental costs first, to determine what should be charged?
That one IS difficult. What do you base it on? Size, no of bedrooms, bathrooms, location (availability of schools, shops, etc). Way too many variarables.
You could use percentage of RV but they are often out of date and not representative of true value.It really is up to the parties to decide on rental value, not government.
@taniwharugby said in NZ Politics:
What happens if some areas anaysis shows rents are too low?
That is a highly likely outcome. Most landlords keep rent increases for good tenants to a minimum in order to keep them. It is better than having to find someone else, who is clean, drug free, pays on time, etc. Not to mention that this govt did away with the letting fee, so landlords cop any costs for tenancy changes, advertising, etc, as well. Even if you find someone straight away you lose 3 weeks rent while they serve their notice if they are coming from another rental.
Who'd be a landlord, ay?
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