October 8, 2024 • 4 mins
The Retirement Commissioner is calling for action on the size of houses being built, with downsizing issues causing a headache for retirees and older people.
Two-bedrooms are fewer than 20% of the new stock and one-bedroom homes are less than 10%, with new terraced housing being unsuitable.
Jane Wrightson is the Retirement Commissioner and joins Jack Tame to discuss the urgent need for smaller homes.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And the Retirement Commissioner is calling for action on the
size of our new houses, with downsizing issues causing a
massive headache for retirees and older New Zealanders. Get this,
two bedroom houses make up less than twenty percent of
the new stock, one bedroom houses less than ten percent,
with new terraced housing obviously having stairs and thus being
unsuitable most of the time. Jane Writeson is the Retirement
(00:22):
Commissioner and is with us this evening. Kielder, Jack, how
much of an issue is this.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It's an emerging issue, is what it is. And it's
our job here at the Commission to just nudge people
to think harder about some of their future brands. I mean,
when you look at the new house builds, you can
see that we've got the three story townhouses. You can
see we've got the expense of apartments. You can see
we've got the five bedroom, five bathroom jobs a bit
further out, and none of these are particularly suitable for retirement,
(00:53):
particularly when you if you think you're going to fe
out for the capital, would you sell your family home.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
If there is demand, why isn't their supply?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, it's a really good question. I think it tells
you how hard the housing market is to change, and
there may well be supply, but it may well be
a bit late. It's hard to know. I mean, there's
a big wave of people tiring over the next ten
twenty years, and as we see with all the other
issues around the housing market, it's a it's a slow burn,
(01:24):
that's one of them. But this is more a bit
of a wake up call just for people that are
contemplating what they'll do in the next ten or twenty years,
particularly if they're living in a house they've assumed they
would sell and pocket some capital gain, because it won't
be as easy as you think, which means thinking earlier
is a good idea.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah. See, it actually benefits the whole country too, doesn't it,
Because if we have housing stocks that suits people when
you know they're getting on a little bit and they
want to downsize, then that actually potentially frees up larger
houses that they otherwise might not sell, for families and
people who have more than just two people under.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
The roofs exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yet, so how do we incentivize it, How do we
get a bit more action?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I don't know how we do that other than keeping
talking about it, you know, there may be some developers
who see an opportunity here. There may be some opportunities
in government housing policy, possibly as they're freeing up our
land for new developments. You know, I know that people
generally don't like regulation in the space, but you know,
(02:28):
if you go to make land available for a big development,
it wouldn't be silly, would it to ensure that there
are a range of housing sizes included in that development, because.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
What's the danger that people at the moment end up
overspending on those smaller houses?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Well, especially if you're wanting a late model one, you know,
because you know the dream is that you retire to
a smaller house, you don't need to do much maintenance.
It's the size that you need, and it's in a
place that is connected, that has got public transport, or
as close to a hospital or the other things that
you need. So all of these things adding up are
a bit tricky, unless, of course, your particularly well off
(03:04):
you can consort things out yourself. But you know the
majority of New Zealanders aren't so much. So you just
need to think harder about this and prod some of
the decision makers to understand that this is as much
of an issue as housing our families.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Speaking of prodding decision makers moved to the boardroom last
week and Nikola Willis and Barbara Edmonds from Labor agreeing
to have a conversation about the future viability of superannuation.
I felt as soon as I saw that headline like
you would have some very strong thoughts.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I do, and the Minister of Finances being a bit
mischievous of course, as governments are trying to prod oppositions
into doing things they want to do. But it's a
really smart idea to have a conversation between major parties
to go what do we think we want to do
for retirement income policy in the long term, because the
worst thing that could happen to New Zealanders, and that's
(03:54):
both retires and taxpayers, frankly, is that you work between systems.
The best thing that you can do, take advantage of
all the evidence you've got and work together to take
some quite hard and crunchy choices. You know, usually this
compromises on both sides. Usually you've got the kind of
black hattery from Treasury which shares the country you can
to afford nothing. And then you take another perspective. Its
(04:17):
so what do the people need and somewhere in between
will be the answer. And I can only keep calling
for a kind of cross party approach on this because
it's hard and it certainly doesn't put itself into the
great easy situation of three year Electra site tooms.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
You know, really A hey, thanks Janes, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
It's no problem, Thank you, catch you.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Say, Jane writes in The Retirement Commissioner. They're nineteen to six.
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks they'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
And the Retirement Commissioner is calling for action on the
size of our new houses, with downsizing issues causing a
massive headache for retirees and older New Zealanders. Get this,
two bedroom houses make up less than twenty percent of
the new stock, one bedroom houses less than ten percent,
with new terraced housing obviously having stairs and thus being
unsuitable most of the time. Jane Writeson is the Retirement
(00:22):
Commissioner and is with us this evening. Kielder, Jack, how
much of an issue is this.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
It's an emerging issue, is what it is. And it's
our job here at the Commission to just nudge people
to think harder about some of their future brands. I mean,
when you look at the new house builds, you can
see that we've got the three story townhouses. You can
see we've got the expense of apartments. You can see
we've got the five bedroom, five bathroom jobs a bit
further out, and none of these are particularly suitable for retirement,
(00:53):
particularly when you if you think you're going to fe
out for the capital, would you sell your family home.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
If there is demand, why isn't their supply?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, it's a really good question. I think it tells
you how hard the housing market is to change, and
there may well be supply, but it may well be
a bit late. It's hard to know. I mean, there's
a big wave of people tiring over the next ten
twenty years, and as we see with all the other
issues around the housing market, it's a it's a slow burn,
(01:24):
that's one of them. But this is more a bit
of a wake up call just for people that are
contemplating what they'll do in the next ten or twenty years,
particularly if they're living in a house they've assumed they
would sell and pocket some capital gain, because it won't
be as easy as you think, which means thinking earlier
is a good idea.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Yeah. See, it actually benefits the whole country too, doesn't it,
Because if we have housing stocks that suits people when
you know they're getting on a little bit and they
want to downsize, then that actually potentially frees up larger
houses that they otherwise might not sell, for families and
people who have more than just two people under.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
The roofs exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Yet, so how do we incentivize it, How do we
get a bit more action?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I don't know how we do that other than keeping
talking about it, you know, there may be some developers
who see an opportunity here. There may be some opportunities
in government housing policy, possibly as they're freeing up our
land for new developments. You know, I know that people
generally don't like regulation in the space, but you know,
(02:28):
if you go to make land available for a big development,
it wouldn't be silly, would it to ensure that there
are a range of housing sizes included in that development, because.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
What's the danger that people at the moment end up
overspending on those smaller houses?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Well, especially if you're wanting a late model one, you know,
because you know the dream is that you retire to
a smaller house, you don't need to do much maintenance.
It's the size that you need, and it's in a
place that is connected, that has got public transport, or
as close to a hospital or the other things that
you need. So all of these things adding up are
a bit tricky, unless, of course, your particularly well off
(03:04):
you can consort things out yourself. But you know the
majority of New Zealanders aren't so much. So you just
need to think harder about this and prod some of
the decision makers to understand that this is as much
of an issue as housing our families.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Speaking of prodding decision makers moved to the boardroom last
week and Nikola Willis and Barbara Edmonds from Labor agreeing
to have a conversation about the future viability of superannuation.
I felt as soon as I saw that headline like
you would have some very strong thoughts.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I do, and the Minister of Finances being a bit
mischievous of course, as governments are trying to prod oppositions
into doing things they want to do. But it's a
really smart idea to have a conversation between major parties
to go what do we think we want to do
for retirement income policy in the long term, because the
worst thing that could happen to New Zealanders, and that's
(03:54):
both retires and taxpayers, frankly, is that you work between systems.
The best thing that you can do, take advantage of
all the evidence you've got and work together to take
some quite hard and crunchy choices. You know, usually this
compromises on both sides. Usually you've got the kind of
black hattery from Treasury which shares the country you can
to afford nothing. And then you take another perspective. Its
(04:17):
so what do the people need and somewhere in between
will be the answer. And I can only keep calling
for a kind of cross party approach on this because
it's hard and it certainly doesn't put itself into the
great easy situation of three year Electra site tooms.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
You know, really A hey, thanks Janes, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
It's no problem, Thank you, catch you.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Say, Jane writes in The Retirement Commissioner. They're nineteen to six.
For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks they'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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