Would You Live Here?

Zardnaar

Zardnaar

Deity
Joined
Nov 16, 2003
Messages
21,189
Location
Dunedin, New Zealand
This is a new social housing unit built in NZ.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/ho...a-new-social-housing-unit-really-like-in-2020

Young mother is moving in rent is around $80 USD a week.

Background Christchurch had a earthquake back in 2011. The rebuild soaked up a large % of NZs construction capacity and billions of dollars.

As I have previously said we've had a housing crisis here last few years. Government campaigned on fixing it even had the cash but couldn't build them fast enough.

Her rent is probably 20-33% of her benefit. The rent is probably about 1/3rd of market rates.

The government bailout for construction industry is looking at building more social housing.

To me the housing thing is the biggest problem here. No point having a UBI or giving people more money which just gets eaten up in escalating rents. Which costs the government more money.

Just need to build more IMHO.
 
That kitchen is HUGE. So is the bathroom. How many square feet in one of those units? (the price is dirt cheap from my perspective)

One of the issues with my kitchen is there's very little counter space and a grand total of ONE drawer. I had to choose what to put in it - cutlery or tools (scissors, hammer, screwdrivers, knives, tape, etc.). The tools won. For some idiotic reason the ones who designed the kitchens in this building thought we needed built-in dishwashers more than storage space.
 
Valka D'Ur said:
That kitchen is HUGE. So is the bathroom. How many square feet in one of those units? (the price is dirt cheap from my perspective)

One of the issues with my kitchen is there's very little counter space and a grand total of ONE drawer. I had to choose what to put in it - cutlery or tools (scissors, hammer, screwdrivers, knives, tape, etc.). The tools won. For some idiotic reason the ones who designed the kitchens in this building thought we needed built-in dishwashers more than storage space.
Click to expand...

IDK we work in meters here. Looks like 80-100 square metres.

Kitchen would have drawers under the other bench I suppose.

Our kitchens probably a bit bigger than than but it's not in a U shape. She has a lot more bench space, we've got a lot if cupboards and ye olde flour bins.

Rents stupidly cheap, if it was 3 bedrooms I would expect to pay $300 USD a week. Christchurch is one of our cheaper cities. Think it has a surplus of housing units due to the rebuild.
 
Curious to know square feet too. 80-100 square meters is your guess from looking at pictures? That's 861-1076 square feet for two bedroom house. That's similar to a 'single-wide' mobile home, or 2 -3 bedroom Habitat for Humanity house (half the size of most 2 bedroom houses).

122 NZ dollars a week, my calculations puts that at 345 USD a month. That her total house payment (mortgage, taxes, insurance), or just the mortgage? Or is she renting it?
 
Bamspeedy said:
Curious to know square feet too. 80-100 square meters is your guess from looking at pictures? That's 861-1076 square feet for two bedroom house. That's similar to a 'single-wide' mobile home, or 2 -3 bedroom Habitat for Humanity house (half the size of most 2 bedroom houses).

122 NZ dollars a week, my calculations puts that at 345 USD a month. That her total house payment (mortgage, taxes, insurance), or just the mortgage? Or is she renting it?
Click to expand...

It's rent. Not market rate hence social housing. It's stupidly cheap. I can convert metres to feet and vice versa but not square feet into square metres off the top of my head.

If she worked a minimum wage job she would get around $750 a week pay 19% tax and her rent would be the $122.

IDK how much she would get on the benefit and idk how much rent is in Christchurch exactly.
 
1 sq meter = ~ 9 sq feet

Government housing can certainly solve problems in the short term, but needs good maintenance if it is to be a long term solution. That is where it often fails. In ten years many place have gone to hell and are unfit as homes anymore. When land is cheap and available, single family units are fine. Well maintained higher rises are more efficient and can have local retail at the bottom. You just need to make the feel spacious and not too small. And keep the elevators running....
 
That's a really nice place, but is low density the way to go?
 
cardgame said:
That's a really nice place, but is low density the way to go?
Click to expand...
It can have a beneficial psychological/social effect on the tenants when they're not crammed in like sardines and not so much at the mercy of neighbors who may be noisy (due to small children; I HATE it when my neighbors have kids). People tend to be nicer to each other when they're not stressed by noise, garbage, laundry room issues, garbage issues, and so on.

What I take from the photos of that place is that they have lots of privacy. They can go outdoors and actually relax in space where no other tenant can go without invitation. The building I'm in doesn't have that (for various reasons the balcony is not an option).
 
cardgame said:
That's a really nice place, but is low density the way to go?
Click to expand...

Apartment living never really caught on here.

The ones we have are still low density sort of.

Photo out my window.

Spoiler Backyards :
IMG_20200704_101939.jpg

IMG_20200704_101936.jpg



Red brick like photo is popular, probably built in 60s, the wooden houses probably 20's-50s.

The older social housing units were built in 30s, some in poor condition got sold off as a do em upper.

The old sections are quarter acre or so. You have your veggie gardens, apple trees, room for the kids to play, gardens etc.

Her house is not typical but it's typical for a new build. It's something like what well off students would live in locally.
 
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