New Zealand Green Building Council Housing Summit 2024
I recently attended the New Zealand Green Building Council’s annual housing summit, where I was part of a panel discussing the role build-to-rent has to play in creating a more sustainable housing sector in New Zealand. Chaired by former deputy prime minister Paula Bennett, we fielded some insightful questions from the audience and enjoyed a wide-ranging conversation. Watch a full video of the discussion here, or read on for a quick recap of what I covered.
Build-to-rent homes are designed to last…
Build-to-rent developers have a different set of drivers than build-to-sell developers. We will be paying the ongoing maintenance and repair costs, so we design and build for durability using materials that will last 100 years or more. This is good for us, and good for our residents.
…and to be more sustainable
Our homes are designed to be more efficient, so that we keep good tenants and meet the ESG objectives of our partners and investors. The Moroki build-to-rent homes which we recently delivered for Hapai Housing in Glen Innes achieved Homestar 7 and 8 ratings for example. Residents there use 40% less power and water than homes of a similar size built to NZ Building Code standard, and their power bills are on average $80 per month lower.
Building at scale, and using durable materials like brick and timber, also results in less waste and lower embodied carbon in our homes. Plus, we choose sites that are close to amenities and public transport, reducing emissions from private transport.
Secure tenancies and quality homes attract great tenants
We use specialist reviews and tenant surveys to drive continuous improvements in each development we undertake. When tenants are treated as valued customers, they tend to stay for the long term, and they take care of their home as though they own it. Across all of our build-to-rent developments over the last seven years, we’ve had only one incident of non-standard property damage.
Central government can help deliver many more build-to-rent homes
Growth in New Zealand’s build-to-rent sector has thus far been constrained by the Overseas Investment Act, which has hindered overseas institutional investors with build-to-rent experience from committing to large scale developments here. The Government’s new legislation that will make it easier for such investors to invest in local build-to-rent developments is critical to the growth of our sector.
Another easy change would be to level the playing field between build-to-rent and build-to-sell developers with respect to GST treatment during the development stage. It’s a relatively easy fix, with a precedent already established for student accommodation and retirement housing.
The demand for quality, stable rental housing is very strong
There is a huge demand for quality, stable rental housing across New Zealand. We’re currently working on large scale rental housing developments in the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, Queenstown and Dunedin.
Our first build-to-rent development was completed in 2017. Since then, we have had a vacancy rate of close to zero. We’re now seeing some residents moving for the third time within the development, as their family size or needs change. Moves are driven by the family, not the landlord - and that’s the way it should be.