Roman Travers: Do you see communal living as a way forward?

Every time I’m confronted with what people are pay for rent I am completely shocked at how anyone can afford to part with that kind of money, and still have money anything else. 

I’ve real concerns for my daughters who are in their 20s and just how on earth they will ever get to a position where being able to afford a mortgage is a viable proposition.  

Yesterday, TradeMe revealed the whopping all-time high rental costs across the country.  

The biggest increase was seen in Northland, where the median weekly rent skyrocketed. At the start of last year, the median rent for Northland properties was $500 a week. By December, that had jumped to $560. 

Manawatū, Whanganui, Taranaki and Canterbury also saw enormous increases of at least $40 per week. 

Do you think it’s time to completely flip the desk on the astronomical cost of existing and seriously consider other ways of living?  

Is it time to get more communal and build properties as communities which may involve friends and family as a means to reduce the cost of living? 

The model way of modern communal living been done in Auckland with one extended family building a very nice apartment complex where everything is shared, including the vehicles. 

When you think about it, it seems pretty strange to live in a street, where everyone owns a lawnmower, a drill and a vacuum cleaner when most of those items are used very sporadically. 

Doesn’t it make more sense to live in a communal setting where there would be one lawnmower for a bunch of families? One drill set for the same group? You get my drift right? 

I’m sure this is going to take a few generations to come to terms with, but there’s no way we can continue living our insular lives behind our picket fences on our quarter acre sections in a country that for many continues to become completely unaffordable.  

The reality is completely confronting. Most of us can’t even afford the picket fence let alone the lovely home that sits behind it. 

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