Home Sweet Home

Winter weather and a place to call your own.

You know I'm a dreamer
But my heart's of gold
I had to run away high
So I wouldn't come home low
Just when things went right
It doesn't mean they were always wrong
Just take this song, and you'll never be
Left all alone

Songwriters: Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee

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The weather extremes continue, as the Northern Hemisphere swelters down here on the way to the pole; it’s shivery bivery, like an iceberg.

By the way, that’s a technical term, ‘shivery bivery’, that Mrs Rockel and I have used over the years to describe the kids getting out of a hot pool into the cold air and their need to be wrapped up warm.

We’ve seen someone in Ōtepoti skiing Baldwin Rd, the really steep one they roll JAFAs down - so it’s best not to say you’re from Auckland if you visit. Scenes of cars sliding helplessly on ice until they collide with whatever stops their momentum. Wellington and Christchurch too, as the polar blast heads north.

Things are grim enough as it is; I imagine students in Dunedin’s notoriously poorly insulated housing must be sheltering in sleeping bags inside their houses. But what of those out in the elements without somewhere to get warm, the homeless?

Our government would prefer they were moved along, out of sight, but not all of our politicians are so coldhearted; here’s Tamatha Paul, and she really gets it:

Tamatha really gets it, as does Helen White from the Labour Party, who said the thing out loud that you’re not supposed to say by suggesting it would be good if house prices fell because people need a place to call home.

It is part of Norman Kirk’s famous mantra of what we all need - someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work, and something to hope for. Which I think is as valid now as it was 50 years ago.

Helen said, “I know what I think about what should happen to house prices, and I have for a long time said I really want to see them come down. They've got to be more affordable than they are.” Which doesn’t seem that controversial to me.

She also said in relation to Mt Albert, “My own experience of being in that electorate was when I bought a house. It cost $142,000. It was three times the income of myself and my partner, and now it's 10 times the income. That is not fair.” She’s not wrong; this is a trend that has taken place over decades, and there needs to be a correction if housing is to become more affordable.

Image: https://kiwieducation.com/

The responses of Chris Hipkins and Barbara Edmonds were rather more subdued; understandably, they don’t want to freak out middle-class Labour voters by saying they want the value of their assets to fall, and they also have a CGT to announce, which is entirely dependent on rising prices, although not, of course, the family home.

Labour's Barbara Edmonds and Chris Hipkins didn't echo White's view. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

I posted the following, aware that not all would agree:

Helen White has gone up in my estimation; the left should want lower house prices; it’s about people having a home to live in, not about investments and capital gains.

If you’ve bought a house as a home, a change in house prices doesn’t really affect you. Your mortgage doesn’t change, and if you decide to move, you’re buying in the same market you’re selling in.

Yes, some will have negative equity following recent falls in the market, but they still have their home, and they’re not paying any more for it. People have long made year-on-year capital gains, which were considered normal, almost guaranteed by our pyramid-scheme of a housing market; but you have to expect that, at some point, there will be a correction.

Liam wrote, “The problem with the CGT is that it assumes house prices growing to help to cover health. But health issues are more or less BECAUSE of house prices rising, creating a worse situation for housing, which is a cause of health problems.”

Darien pointed out, “House prices falling will also impact TOP's Land Value Tax, but that also applies to the family home, unlike Labour's CGT.”

I’m not sure how Helen’s comments will affect what looks like a fierce contest in the Mt Albert electorate, with TOP targeting an electorate seat. Perhaps the Toppas themselves do not believe the latest Roy Morgan poll, which shows them romping into parliament on 8%, even though no other polling organisation shows them meeting the 5% threshold.

Helen White and supporters. Photo: https://www.facebook.com/HelenWhiteLabour/photos

My apologies if I sound like a broken record, but a CGT, which is a good long-term measure, is not going to bring in any revenue in a flat or declining market; it depends on property prices increasing.

Labour have yet to announce their tax policy, but I really hope it includes more than a CGT; otherwise, they’re going to struggle to pay for the commitments they have made, let alone fix things after this government.

I know some of you get annoyed if I criticise Labour, but I do so because I want to see them succeed, not just in getting elected but in having the revenue to focus on its long-term value of all Kiwis deserving a place to call home.

Labour has a proud history of providing homes to those who need them, far greater than any other party's. I truly wish them well in the difficult task of not alienating centre voters while inspiring those on the left as a progressive alternative.

Have a good Wednesday, folks. I hope you’re keeping warm wherever you are.

Ngā mihi,
Nick.

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To end today, here are Motley Crue with Home Sweet Home: