Latest / Best of Business / David Whitburn: property developer and investor warns recent housing changes come with an infrastructure bill

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David Whitburn: property developer and investor warns recent housing changes come with an infrastructure bill · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News talks'b Follow this
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  Speaker 1: and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio Afternoon.
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  Speaker 2: Chris Bishop has revealed his plan to flood the market
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  Speaker 2: with houses. The new rules he's outlined today would abolish
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  Speaker 2: urban rural boundaries around cities, demand that council's free up
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  Speaker 2: thirty years worth of development land, demand intensification, especially along
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  Speaker 2: transport corridors, and remove restrictions on apartment sizes and balcony sizes.
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  Speaker 2: That would mean the market would make the rules and
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  Speaker 2: not the council. David Whitburn is a professional property developer
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  Speaker 2: and investor in with us.
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  Speaker 3: Now Hey David, Hey, yeah, how are you very well?
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  Speaker 4: Thank you? Do you reckon? This is going to see
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  Speaker 4: more houses built and prices kept down.
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  Speaker 3: It will, but unfortunately it's not the Holy Girl that
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  Speaker 3: many are looking for. This will be a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of a trickle only because we need to couple with
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  Speaker 3: infrastructure funding considering urban sprawl when getting rid of the
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  Speaker 3: metropolitan urban limits to Auckland and christ Chutch have already
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  Speaker 3: factored in thirty years of supply in their plans anyway,
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  Speaker 3: so that really only adding in the Hamilton told On
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  Speaker 3: and Wellington Councils is the Tier one councils for this,
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  Speaker 3: and until we get the infrastructure funding sorted out, we're
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  Speaker 3: not going to be able to get too much of
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  Speaker 3: a dent in this, unfortunately, because it is very expensive
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  Speaker 3: to put in the wastewater networks, the roading, the connections
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  Speaker 3: to electricity reticulation and so forth. To get a full
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  Speaker 3: benefit from that.
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  Speaker 4: You don't think the developers will pay for it willingly.
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  Speaker 3: Developers won't pay for willing because we've got to make
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  Speaker 3: a profit. Actually be more useful if we could consider
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  Speaker 3: addressing the high interest rates that are hurting us. Is
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  Speaker 3: so bad at the moment, they're just too high, but
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  Speaker 3: the infrastructure costs will help it. Just where's the funding
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  Speaker 3: the platform from them. There have been some successful models,
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  Speaker 3: the likes of what Fuld and Hogan have done in
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  Speaker 3: Mildale's been great with a targeted contribution to the rates.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's over thirty years to alleviate some of
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  Speaker 3: the pressure, but it's veryen doing it. We're seeing development
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  Speaker 3: contributions upwards of ninety thousand dollars in Drury that just
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  Speaker 3: gets tacked to the cost of houses properly, so As
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  Speaker 3: a result, we see places like Kumiu and Herpi in
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  Speaker 3: northwest of Auckland, in Karraka and Pocono. We're seeing there,
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  Speaker 3: in addition to some quite lengthy commute times, we're also
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  Speaker 3: seeing that these areas using the old speak, the sort
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  Speaker 3: of DICL nine to ten nicer more costly areas. So
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  Speaker 3: it doesn't really help the housing affordability and we'll only
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  Speaker 3: make a minor dent and things. It's the right principle
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  Speaker 3: and all in better and lower housing, but unfortunately and
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  Speaker 3: less it's dovetailed around intrastructs lying and the provision of
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  Speaker 3: more bulk infrastructure ideally funded by government who can borrow
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  Speaker 3: a couple of least two hundred basis points lower than
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  Speaker 3: we developers can. It's going to still be a real challenge.
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  Speaker 4: How do you feel about the possibility of shoe box apartments?
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  Speaker 3: Not good? We foiled a lot in the in the
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  Speaker 3: Diety noticed a bit of work with some lawyers today
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  Speaker 3: and an expert witness brief on one that such infamous
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  Speaker 3: project there. It's something we've got to be a bit
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  Speaker 3: conscious of. Unfortunately, we've got to take some of our
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  Speaker 3: most vulnerable people along with us on the journey, and
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  Speaker 3: some people don't have that choice. So potentially, yet, if
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  Speaker 3: I we were developed but that perhaps weren't quite so
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  Speaker 3: conscious there, I may be able to build nine square
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  Speaker 3: meter units and perhaps have a shared bathroom.
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  Speaker 4: Would anybody live them?
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  Speaker 2: Really?
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  Speaker 3: Unfortunately they haven't. In student halls of residents have examples
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  Speaker 3: of that. Some workers accommodation do it in cities like
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  Speaker 3: Hong Kong and numerous European cities. I've seen ones as
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  Speaker 3: small as nine square meters. Unfortunately, so some vulnerable people.
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  Speaker 3: Unfortunately do you have to live in that guest. It's
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  Speaker 3: better than living in the car or living rough, but
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  Speaker 3: it's not very nice. I'm not so sure about having
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  Speaker 3: a removal of balconies, particularly when you can have no
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  Speaker 3: opening windows. In addition to the for size it probably
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  Speaker 3: is it could be a better way to have some
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  Speaker 3: minimum stands there, just to make sure that our country's
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  Speaker 3: most vulnerable and left behind.
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  Speaker 4: David, it's really good to get your perspective on it.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you very much. David Whitburn, professional property developer and investor.
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