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Why houses cost so much

#Post
1

Here's a footbridge that will cost $80,000 to replace. That is a ridiculous price.
Maybe the job could go out to tender?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/435018/twisted-timber-bridge-
needing-significant-repairs-to-be-pulled-from-blenheim-reser
ve

trade4us2 - 2021-01-23 10:03:00
2
trade4us2 wrote:

Here's a footbridge that will cost $80,000 to replace. That is a ridiculous price.
Maybe the job could go out to tender?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/435018/twisted-timber-bridge-
needing-significant-repairs-to-be-pulled-from-blenheim-reser
ve

Thats not a ridiculous price you are well out of touch with building costs . .

martin11 - 2021-01-23 11:52:00
3

Is that another bridge in the photo, which is quite close? People are already there for exercise so remove the 'safe' but 'unsuitable' one.

amasser - 2021-01-23 12:06:00
4
martin11 wrote:

Thats not a ridiculous price you are well out of touch with building costs . .

I have paid to have another story on two houses, at $30,000 each time. I did do some of the work.

trade4us2 - 2021-01-23 12:32:00
5
trade4us2 wrote:

I have paid to have another story on two houses, at $30,000 each time. I did do some of the work.

When? 1991?

sw20 - 2021-01-23 13:04:00
6

That's cheap. The kids slide at the beehive cost $582,000 to put in.

Edited by differentthings at 1:38 pm, Sat 23 Jan

differentthings - 2021-01-23 13:36:00
7

The politicians don’t want to fix the housing problem. That’s obvious to see.

Same s*** overseas. Who is pulling the strings?

We need some kind of new direction away from self serving people with agendas that we will never understand.

lakeview3 - 2021-01-23 14:05:00
8
differentthings wrote:

That-
9;s cheap. The kids slide at the beehive cost $582,000 to put in.

Maybe Mallard used the money for his legal fees.

There was a day when that sort of thing would have been put up by a few Dads one weekend.

soundsgood - 2021-01-23 14:09:00
9
soundsgood wrote:

There was a day when that sort of thing would have been put up by a few Dads one weekend.

My primary school in the mid to late '80s had this enormous playground fortress. It was two levels. Had a fireman's pole to the ground from the top floor. Seating up the top. A flagpole. A plank swing bridge from one side to the other. Monkey bars on another bit. Tall metal slide from another part of the top floor. It was amazing. Timber and materials were donated from a local building merchant. Local mums and dads built it over several weekends.

Then in the 2000s it was torn down because it was dangerous.

sw20 - 2021-01-23 14:29:00
10
sw20 wrote:

My primary school in the mid to late '80s had this enormous playground fortress. It was two levels. Had a fireman's pole to the ground from the top floor. Seating up the top. A flagpole. A plank swing bridge from one side to the other. Monkey bars on another bit. Tall metal slide from another part of the top floor. It was amazing. Timber and materials were donated from a local building merchant. Local mums and dads built it over several weekends.

Then in the 2000s it was torn down because it was dangerous.

The big one on the waterfront here in Wellington went as well.

The wood on Mallard's one likely has a lifespan as well. And, no, that's not a euphemism.

I looked to see a carport a family member put up in the early 70s is still viewable on Google Street maps.

At least it wasn't something built in the 90s. I suppose late 80s early 90s is when 'quick-and-cheap' had settled in to construction.

soundsgood - 2021-01-23 14:37:00
11
sw20 wrote:

When? 1991?

Yes, about then. I got several packets of Douglas Fir 100x50 framing for $1.60 per metre. 240x25 clear pine for $5.50/m, 40x40 clear pine for 0.50/m

trade4us2 - 2021-01-23 17:42:00
12
trade4us2 wrote:

Yes, about then. I got several packets of Douglas Fir 100x50 framing for $1.60 per metre. 240x25 clear pine for $5.50/m, 40x40 clear pine for 0.50/m

these days youd be paying 30grand just for the council fees and probably scaffolding so your waaaaaaay out of touch, althoufg 80grand for the foot bridge is excessive

clangie - 2021-01-24 17:46:00
13
clangie wrote:

these days youd be paying 30grand just for the council fees and probably scaffolding so your waaaaaaay out of touch, althoufg 80grand for the foot bridge is excessive

So the high price of housing is because of excessive council fees? Scaffolding is a bit of a scam too. My builders didn't use scaffolding. The house has a verandah all around.

trade4us2 - 2021-01-24 20:25:00
14
trade4us2 wrote:

So the high price of housing is because of excessive council fees?

its a bit of everything.
councils put a lot of infrastructure costs onto developers which increases the price they have to sell at.
then the fees for the house itself.
most homes are custom build. even our version of cookie cutter homes are pretty small scale.
supply chains are dominated by a few companies. many opposition companies can't be bothered with such a small market.

so people just wait until their existing house sells for enough money they can afford to build a new house.
the trickle effect kicks in and ultimately its the first home buyer that ends up wearing the extra costs generated from higher up the ladder.

tweake - 2021-01-24 21:13:00
15
tweake wrote:


the trickle effect kicks in and ultimately its the first home buyer that ends up wearing the extra costs generated from higher up the ladder.

The house being built next door required 500 pages of drawings, detail drawings, engineers calculations and supplier statements. The builder had to fight with the chartered engineers to reduce structural requirements, but as it is now the frame of the house looks to still be over-engineered. I think the building failures in Welly in the last earthquake has really put the wind up the structural engineering firms in the capital, and they are now very risk averse.
Another issue (I've been told) is the high cost to get new systems or materials through the BRANZ certification.
As you say, most NZ houses are bespoke, and our land and weather conditions vary so much, every variable in a build adds risk, and no one wants to be the one to be blamed if a building fails. There is a recent case in Masterton where a structural engineering firm was found to have under-designed the structure of a commercial premises in town, and with subsequent checks several other buildings (with input from the same firm) were found to be severely deficient strength-wise too.
The LBP program may have cut the numbers of builders, which probably put costs up there, too.

apollo11 - 2021-01-24 22:44:00
16
trade4us2 wrote:

So the high price of housing is because of excessive council fees? Scaffolding is a bit of a scam too. My builders didn't use scaffolding. The house has a verandah all around.

not just council fees but engineers etc that you never used to need
these days youd still need scaffold to build-even with your magical verandah. you need scaffold/fall protection etc to frame the roo-put roof on etc, and other safety shit like handrails etc. not arguing about your situation but 1991 is ALOT different to 2021.
also these days materials price is high as hell. you wouldnt be able to get a pack of douglas fir and build your frames. they all need to be certed etc so theres a paper trail. endless shit that pushes the prices up

clangie - 2021-01-25 18:51:00
17
trade4us2 wrote:

Here's a footbridge that will cost $80,000 to replace. That is a ridiculous price.
Maybe the job could go out to tender?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/435018/twisted-timber-bridge-
needing-significant-repairs-to-be-pulled-from-blenheim-reser
ve


If it was the New Plymouth District council the ratepayers wouldn't get any change out of half a million.

roganstant - 2021-01-25 20:59:00
18

I would love to see the cost breakdown of this someone is making a huge profit.

gamefisher - 2021-01-25 21:30:00
19
apollo11 wrote:

The house being built next door required 500 pages of drawings, detail drawings, engineers calculations and supplier statements. The builder had to fight with the chartered engineers to reduce structural requirements, but as it is now the frame of the house looks to still be over-engineered. I think the building failures in Welly in the last earthquake has really put the wind up the structural engineering firms in the capital, and they are now very risk averse.
Another issue (I've been told) is the high cost to get new systems or materials through the BRANZ certification.
As you say, most NZ houses are bespoke, and our land and weather conditions vary so much, every variable in a build adds risk, and no one wants to be the one to be blamed if a building fails. There is a recent case in Masterton where a structural engineering firm was found to have under-designed the structure of a commercial premises in town, and with subsequent checks several other buildings (with input from the same firm) were found to be severely deficient strength-wise too.
The LBP program may have cut the numbers of builders, which probably put costs up there, too.


yeah the structural requirements have been increased over the years even up here.
we put a new shed up at work and compared to older ones its massively over engineered.

the other thing is so many house are squeezed together. if one fails it takes out the others. like the one in welly i think where the land owner did some earth works on his property which put houses on the hill above at risk.

the LBP program is a good thing. i've seen work of some "builders" before that and they should not be allowed near a hammer.

not to mention councils getting so risk adverse because, as they found with leaky homes, they cannot run away from the issues and end up the one paying for it.

tweake - 2021-01-25 21:37:00
20
trade4us2 wrote:

Here's a footbridge that will cost $80,000 to replace. That is a ridiculous price.
Maybe the job could go out to tender?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/435018/twisted-timber-bridge-
needing-significant-repairs-to-be-pulled-from-blenheim-reser
ve

What you have to factor in is that the "customer" for the job is a city council, and the bottom line is they are an "easy touch". A city council is basically a bunch of enthusiast amatuers who have little or no knowledge of things construction, civil engineering etc. Grossly overcharge city councils is the industries way of getting back at them for excessive delays, mucking around and cost of resource consents and building permits !!

onl_148 - 2021-01-27 12:13:00
21
tweake wrote:


the LBP program is a good thing. i've seen work of some "builders" before that and they should not be allowed near a hammer.

LBP's is just a have .many of them do not know how to build a weatherproof and leakproof home . Some of the workmanship of them in this area leaves a lot to be desired . I feel sorry for the owners of the houses .

martin11 - 2021-01-27 12:17:00
22

Eight houses have been built by professionals around here in the last 30 years. Five of them have been leaky houses. The one house built by its non-LPB owner is not leaky!

trade4us2 - 2021-01-29 18:09:00
23

Good article today on how we got to where we are with house prices, affordability and regulations. Some of the changes, while well-intentioned have backfired and now multiple actions have created the current situation. It will take more than one action to even things out, as long as those actions are very well thought out and any potential conflicts/unintended consequences checked.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/124065406/how-one-a
uckland-home-tells-the-story-of-the-housing-market

hers.nz - 2021-01-31 11:50:00
24
hers.nz wrote:

Good article today on how we got to where we are with house prices, affordability and regulations. Some of the changes, while well-intentioned have backfired and now multiple actions have created the current situation. It will take more than one action to even things out, as long as those actions are very well thought out and any potential conflicts/unintended consequences checked.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/124065406/how-one-a
uckland-home-tells-the-story-of-the-housing-market

All we need to know is this: "In 1982, the Auckland Regional Authority formalised the Metropolitan Urban Limit (MUL), a planning scheme designed to control urban sprawl, essentially drawing a line around where you could build a house."

So the ARA caused the housing crisis in Auckland and it spread around the country. Who was in the ARA then? I shall find out who the morons were. Maybe they are still somewhere where they are still making stupid decisions.
The Auckland Council is presently making stupid decisions about sea level rise. How do we get rid of the "experts" in charge?

trade4us2 - 2021-01-31 20:58:00
25
sw20 wrote:

My primary school in the mid to late '80s had this enormous playground fortress. It was two levels. Had a fireman's pole to the ground from the top floor. Seating up the top. A flagpole. A plank swing bridge from one side to the other. Monkey bars on another bit. Tall metal slide from another part of the top floor. It was amazing. Timber and materials were donated from a local building merchant. Local mums and dads built it over several weekends.

Then in the 2000s it was torn down because it was dangerous.

Sounds exactly like my old school playground, Birchwood Primary in Nelson?

smbparts - 2021-02-01 15:11:00
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