Letters to the editor: More land needs to be made available to build houses

More land needs to be made available, so more houses can be built, a reader says. Photo / File

We need action.

Our brightest and best tradies and nurses are crossing the Tasman and beyond for greater incomes and to fulfil their dream of home ownership.

With the average price of a home in this sub-region skyrocketing to over a million dollars, we can expect to see an exodus unless we act urgently.

More land needs to be made available, so more houses can be built. There is a scarcity of houses for sale, but unless we build more the price is not going to come down.

How on earth can we expect rental accommodation to be any better when the Government thumps taxes and controls onto those private owners who want to buy a house to rent when they now cannot get an irresponsible tenant out. Rental accommodation is just getting harder and the result is that those who can afford it least are the ones who are suffering.

Government ministers should be ashamed, in my view, as to the social destruction they are creating, and don't get me started on roading and the inability of the Government to stop flip-flopping with decisions for vital work on our State Highway 2 and SH29.

(Abridged)

Margaret Murray-Benge
Bethlehem

Pay decent wages

We are suffering a shortage of tradesmen mainly because, in my view, general wages have crept up and the minimum wage has kicked in and trade employers who pay above that don't seem to pay more as they think they are already paying enough.

Trade employers need to pay decent trade wages. Young people are thinking why should they do an apprenticeship to be paid not much more than those who don't. It will push up trade rates, and, being an electrician we are responsible for our work for the rest of our lives, so that has to be reflected in our pay like it is over the ditch.

If you want the services of a tradesman, you have got to be expected to pay.

(Abridged)

Graham Holloway
Tauranga

Grumpy with the banks

I am very grumpy with the banks. For their convenience and profit, they have withdrawn cheque books, closed ATMs and local bank branches, which is a great inconvenience to me, leading to traffic congestion while trying to find one.

As low-interest rates make only a feeble return, I am beginning to wonder why we need banks at all. My great grandfather kept his money in a tin under his bed, and while we still have cash as currency, I am tempted to do the same.

I am unsure, however, how many bitcoins it would take to fill a biscuit tin?

Meg Butler
Pāpāmoa

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