Time to build homes smarter and faster

This article was published here in the New Zealand Herald. As it was published in the Herald's pay for view service, I can only include a summary here.

The Government has made three significant housing announcements in the last six months: its 2020 election housing policy programme, January's Public Housing Plan – which aims to build 8000 new state houses by 2024?- and the recent first-home buyers' housing package.

None mentioned the word technology, although the housing plan talked of exploring "innovative solutions to increase the supply of affordable housing". We have been needing those innovative solutions for a while now....

...A comprehensive study by Auckland Council in 2015 on housing preferences showed most people had little concern for what a house was made of or how - so long as it prioritised light, heating, safety, storage and energy efficiency.

This opportunity has little chance of being realised, and so fewer houses will be built unless the Government, industry and other stakeholders work harder and quicker to resolve legacy regulatory restrictions, bank financing barriers, some industry resistance and the technology gap that exists in New Zealand's housing policy.