Luke Kirkness: Govt focus must soon shift to housing issues

One could be forgiven for forgetting about the housing issues this region is facing.

There have been plenty of distractions lately and none bigger than the Delta outbreak that has so far missed the Bay of Plenty — if you don't count the heightened alert levels.

While we've been lucky to avoid the destructive virus, the lack of housing and exponential population growth in our major towns and cities plagues us.

In March, Massey University professor Paul Spoonley, a population expert, noted how Tauranga, the Bay's biggest centre, bucked the national trend.

The city is an outlier because it has one of the highest proportions of elderly people in New Zealand but it also had significant growth from younger generations.

Also notable in Tauranga's demographics was its significant Māori population, who generally have children younger and more overall than other ethnicities.

Another problem is lurking around us, shielded by the pandemic but needs our urgent attention. Photo / Getty Images

The city needs both housing to suit a growing population of elderly, and for our young families who tend to prefer to live in standalone properties with a yard and garden.

It was once the Kiwi dream — owning the family home on a quarter-acre section — but is becoming increasingly unlikely as each day passes.

Concurrently, a lack of rentals in Tauranga is drivingprices to an "all-time high" and to make matters worse Aucklanders are eyeing up our properties.

In some ways, it's a good thing to get people to migrate here, such as gaining skilled workers from bigger cities - but it won't help the already strained property market.

We've also read about squatters occupying condemned social housing and people building without permits or living in overcrowded homes.

In nearby Rotorua, some renters are "scared to move" while others are holed up in motels or sleeping in couches.

Another major issue facing Rotorua is homelessness, with plans to house homeless people in specialist facilities often being rebuffed by locals.

Maybe those who are comfortable in a warm home each night are quick to forget the Bay of Plenty's housing problems.

Tradespeople are part of the solution but they face challenges too. In Tauranga, increasing pressures have seen the cost of building an average home increase by about $130,000 in the last year.

All of this reporting has taken place in the past few weeks.

Someone needs to take ownership and that someone is the Government, which has rightly focused more on the pandemic.

But as we move towards the majority of the country getting the vaccine and look at life after Covid-19, our focus needs to shift to another gigantic problem.

We're getting the vaccine to protect ourselves and future generations, let's do the same with our housing infrastructure.