Given I live in the suburb, I know the values. Remuera is a large area geographically, so its overall average value falls a bit, it's at a smidge over $2m. The good streets you can't get into for under $5m. So $3m is nothing out of the ordinary. Land is in high demand because there isn't any left.
Now the fact this bloke doesn't believe the figure is neither here nor there. What's important is that you and I own this place and he's been in it for 37 years.
This proves what a rort the system is. State housing was a step up, a helping hand, not a life choice.
Housing NZ also owns another bit of land worth $3m, in fact $3.5m. That's in Mangere, and it's 8000sq m. Are you serious? In city terms that's a farm. What the hell have they got 8000sq m blocks for?
So you can see the dire, if not desperate, need to shake the system up and bring a bit of reality to the equation.
The future of state housing is not dissimilar to the future of affordable housing.
If you're in a big city, it's on small blocks of land and most likely part of a complex. It's apartment or unit living. The sort of aggro we've seen around some of the evolution of state housing reform gives you a good idea of how badly it can go wrong if the largesse is too great in the first place.
The protests mounted from tenants being moved on, the legal bills run up at our expense, simply as a result of reality knocking on these doors and the people on the other side not having a clue.
State housing, instead of state support, became a gift for life. And look where it's got us.
The whole pepperpot idea, sprinkle houses far and wide, and what have you ended up with? Hundreds of millions in property that's not being sensibly utilised and a small group of the aggrieved and entitled, angry at their perceived treatment.
State housing is a roof over your head, not an estate and blue ribbon address. What's bulls**t is the outrage we should all be feeling - that we haven't got on top of this and sorted it years ago.
