The dream of home ownership has never been less obtainable, so media reports would lead us to believe. But is that a fair claim? I got the Parliamentary Library to compile some figures for me so that I could work out how much someone from each of the last four ‘generations’ could expect to pay for their first home and how that compared to what they were likely to be earning.
In the 1930s before the outbreak of the Second World War the average weekly wage was about ?5 and 2 shillings. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but when translated into today’s dollars it works out to about $460. The average price of houses was about ?870, the equivalent of about three and a half years worth of wages.
Veterans returning home from the war faced a bigger sacrifice to get themselves into their own homes in the 1950s. They would’ve received an average weekly income of about ?9 and 2 shillings. That’s about $560 a week in today’s dollars. They could pick up a house for about ?2400, the equivalent of just over five years worth of wages (although to offset the extra cost there were a lot of grants/loans etc available for returned servicemen).
Fast forward to the 1980s when most of their children were in the workforce and buying their first homes and things had returned back to their pre-war levels. The ‘Baby Boomers’ were earning on average about $200 a week, or $600 in today’s dollars. They were paying about $36,000 for their first home, equivalent to about three and a half years worth of wages.
Hit the fast forward button again and we arrive at the present day, where average weekly earnings amount to $809 a week and the average house price is about $416,000. Applying the same calculations, someone on an average income and buying a home at the average house price can expect to pay the equivalent of about 10 years worth of wages. So it’s true, owning your own home has never been more of a hurdle.
John W I did not know that re insulation & fungi. Is it the same issue with that new foam variety that is now available? Our house was rebuilt 15 years ago so was built to accommodation the pink batts in the walls & roof.
Re wetback – interesting too. Ours have a overheating switch however we have found it best to turn the hot water off completely when the fire is going then turn it back on mid morning before it goes cold in the cylinder. This has meant that at times when we have had the fire going non stop our power bill has dropped from its summer rate of about $100 (after the 10% discount) to about $60 so no extra cost incurred at all.
Interesting posts John W.
My understanding is that Placemakers is basically a “buffer” organisation used by a very well known NZ supplier to pout distance between its product a liability to builders and home owners. Incentives to builders are constantly offered and in some known instances Placemakers profit on a transaction has been as low as 5% (because the profit to the supplier is what really matters).
Rebecca – re: fungi, that is a point I have been making for some time, and to the Labour Shadow Minister. Old houses were designed pre batts, pre building paper (some) and accordingly their design for air circulation and drying of timber was idfferent, and effective (plus they used treated and hardwoods). BUT people who renovated these old homes are not thinking to look for problems with moisture… but they will be there, and depending on the extent of renovations, there may be untreated timber in those walls.
So homes generally are unaffordable and those who can afford to at least buy them are faced with inevitable leaks or if they are not new/renovated, cold & damp. Lose lose for homeowners! Hope ours doesn’t leak – been here 31/2 years no rotting walls or carpet….yet!
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Well they shouldn’t be faced with inevitable leaks but many homes are rotting (white and black) and people dont know it. The wood in our homes is supposed to last 50 years. The industry is a murky place and the ethical trades and suppliers are swamped by the others. The watchdogs are neutered puppies, or worse, and Councils are terrified of anything new or not appraised by Branz even though Branz appraaised just about every product going into thomes which are leaking.
I know of one company which has now been called in to repair a reclad on a home. That’s right, the homes leaked, had full reclads, and now the reclads are failing.
There is, of course, a reclad industry so the original suppliers get to supply again, the builders (who have survived) build again, and with less skilled help because of the period we had no apprenticeships, and Prendos et al, seen by some as angels, are also reaping rewards from the reclad industry… Dont even get me started on prendos having people who used to be Branz certifiers during the whole untreated, kiln dried debacle.
God Tracey what a nightmare in terms of trying to figure out who did what, who’s left to be accountable and whether you can get any reimbursement or repairs free of charge. All involved have been ducking for cover and I can’t believe that despite the issue being around for years, the Labour government took no responsibility. If people are building and signing things off according to the appropriate legislative requirements and council regulations at the time then in many ways they are allowed to escape responsibility and the councils and government should be picking up the tab. Isn’t this what we pay our taxes for – all those in leaky homes are tax payers. Far better such money is allocated to distressed homeowners caught between a rock and a hard place than more MP perks. I also don’t see why assistance is any difference to say helping farmers out when faced with draught or people being flooded etc.
In terms of cladding ours is a concrete thing – original stuff from the 1970s. When they rebuilt things they kept the roof, ceiling cladding and then just remodeled it inside out.
Good luck
Importation of blue asbestos was finally stopped early 1980s. Sheets containing asbestos were sold for a while after that. Corrugated sheets were also used for roofing. Certainly not to be used for water collection.
As it ages the cement products powder off releasing the deadly fibres.
It is a matter of luck to some extent but can be rotton stuff. Just a few fibres in the lungs can do the damage which is terminal.
(From authoritative sources in the Ch Ch Asbestos Related Illness team)
Seal the stuff with paint and never scrape, sand or waterblast.
If you have been exposed then filling in forms from the Labour dept can get you on the asbestos exposure register. Then you and your doctor will be informed of any new information that arises. Time between exposure and any symptoms can be 15 ( typically 20 ) to 50 years. Symptoms are easily missed and mistaken for other conditions in many cases, particularly for smokers.