Home ownership : tenure of choice?

Abstract

Prior to 1840 Maori inhabited Aotearoa in a loose confederation of iwi and hapu, whose tenure on the land was based on communal stewardship. European settlement of New Zealand brought an influx of people for whom, in the main, home ownership and ownership of the land that their houses were sited on would have been a dream in their land of origin. Ownership of land, and its use have been the major cause of disputes between Maori and settlers. Yet in the one hundred and fifty years from 1840-1990 New Zealand home ownership rates rose to be among the highest in the world but, in the last decade, the formerly high home ownership rates have fallen dramatically. This thesis will examine the historical combination of events and government policies that developed the ethos that led to such high levels of home ownership, and then consider the reasons why the home ownership rate has fallen. Answering these questions will require investigation of the following issues: the degree to which housing can be considered as a standard market 'commodity'; the history behind the reasons why and how the state in New Zealand became a money lender; the recent demographic changes within New Zealand society; and, the degree to which housing policies stimulated home ownership rates. What policy initiatives allowed home ownership to become the tenure of choice of New Zealanders? What has changed in the last decade to erode this position? This thesis looks at why and how policies targeted home ownership as the means of achieving housing objectives and led to the owner-occupier paradigm becoming such an important part of the New Zealand psyche.