Housing to a budget

Abstract

This study was undertaken from March to July (inclusive) 1989. Through interviews and background reading an information base was established so that a budget could be formed that was realistic for first home buyers. Low cost housing encompasses a broad range of topics that can be approached for this form of discussion. It is therefore necessary to define the scope of this report. The content is based on the position of the first home buyer and their subsequent buying power based upon the finance package offered through the Housing Corporation of New Zealand. Due to the high profile of the Housing Corporation as a lending institution for first home buyers discussion of available finance packages is limited to the Housing Corporation 'Homechance' and 'Homestart' packages. The low-cost homes available from firms such as Beazley etc are beyond the the scope of this report due to the sheer numbers available. They are of course relevant as they form such a large part of the housing market and could therefore be a topic on their own. (Some of these homes were looked at and were not affordable under the finance criteria outlined in Chapter 2, not enough were analysed to make a detailed discussion possible). A major finding of the report is not a specific budget but rather the unfortunate unaffordability to a great number of hopeful buyers. The next step was to look for an alternative, there are many ways of reducing cost but this report deals with the question of user construction. Self-build was found to be a viable alternative to the standard methods of obtaining a first house but with qualifications that are outlined in chapter 5. These qualifiers are derived from analysis of precedent within New Zealand and from the U.K. The report concludes that alternatives that reduce cost will assume greater importance as the gap between hopeful and owner widens.