Letters: State-owned homes is the way to go

A reader says state-owned houses is the key to affordable housing. Photo / File

I agree with G J Philip (Letters, August 14), something desperately needs to be done to correct the imbalance in the housing market.

I have long insisted that a new law is needed - if you own a home, live in it or sell it.
A house is a home, not a commodity.

This would immediately reduce the price of houses because it would flood the market.

I do not believe that privately owned rentals are the answer, we need state-owned housing at a reasonable rental so that people are able to afford a roof over their heads.

Decent families need decent houses if they are to bring up decent children.

Our future as a country depends on it.

Jim Adams
Rotorua

Support for teachers
I read that a secondary school teacher in Auckland worked out how much his wife, a primary school teacher, earned per hour based on her salary of $52,000 and the hours she worked which were between 60 and 65 hours per week.

He worked out that she earned $13 an hour.

This is less than the minimum wage and they expect qualified, competent and really talented people to want to carry on teaching earning a pittance.

The Minister says, "We are working through the issues."

The issue is that teachers, should you not want them all to resign and go elsewhere, should be paid a salary, equivalent to their career and the very demanding job it is.

It's all very well for government "pen pushers" to sit behind their desks all day ... they should do a few days work in a school and see the amount of work teachers put in.

Thank goodness we have so many teachers actually wanting to put in all the hours. They are dedicated and with such a small salary for the work they do, they really enjoy their career.

They should be able to go home after work, relax and enjoy their families, but they go home and continue working well into the night, what with accountability, planning, reports, blog sites etc, etc.

It never ends.

Good for teachers for making a stance and striking for what they want - a well deserved salary increase, and a good one.

Viv Radley
Rotorua