Ngai tahu right on rip off building costs

Ngai Tahu Properties CEO Tony Sewell is right when he says Kiwis are being ripped off by inflated prices for building materials, Labour’s housing spokesperson Phil Twyford says.

“The cost of housing is one of the major issues facing New Zealanders and they’ll be outraged by this latest news.

“Tony Sewell says he found US suppliers selling treated timber at a quarter of the price paid in New Zealand. He is right. You can walk into Home Depot in California and pay $NZ 1.91 a metre for prime pressure-treated pine ‘4x2’ which is roughly a quarter of what we pay in New Zealand.

“Mr Sewell says a lack of competition is behind the high prices Kiwis are paying for building materials.

“Fixing this rort is one of the things that will bring down the cost of housing.

“Building materials account for about a half of the cost of a new house, and we are paying substantially more than consumers in Australia or the United States.

“There is something seriously wrong here. You cannot tell me that the US is four times more efficient than we are at growing trees.

“The Government has been talking about this issue for three years now, but still hasn’t made a decision according to Ministers.

“Labour’s Kiwibuild policy, with 10,000 homes built each year, will open the door to bulk buying of building materials that will drive down prices. Add this to independent research recently released by Prefab NZ that estimates offsite manufacturing can knock $32,000 off the cost of a new home.”

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