The New Zealand Housing Obsession-The Speculative Market That No One Can Afford

The Filmmaker and the Advocate continue their season two Zoom tour around the world. After a brief discussion on encampment evictions carried out across the City of Toronto, the two make a stop in New Zealand to interview Brennan Rigby of Shift Aoteara. New Zealand’s housing market has some interesting elements; the country’s real estate market has been closed to foreign investment since 2018, while at the same time a strong market-driven real estate culture means the general population has an above-average understanding of how to use home equity to purchase multiple properties. As a result, multi-homeowners are quite common. Despite this, New Zealand has the highest rate of homelessness amongst OECD countries.  After a period of nearly 30 years, New Zealand just began building new social housing in 2018, meaning there is not nearly enough social housing supply. This, along with an increasingly financialized real estate market has created an environment where homelessness can grow at an alarming rate. In the last 12 months alone, housing costs have increased by almost 25%. Growing concerns about housing supply have spilled over into immigration, with many wondering if the country can allow immigration with the housing market in its current state.  Fredrik, Leilani, and Brennan discuss the elements that contributed to the current situation in New Zealand and how to shift a market-minded culture towards a human rights framework.  Produced by WG Film Edited by Mikey JonesMusic by Florencia Di ConcilioSocial Media & Support - Maja MobergSupport the show