We wrote this book to give voice to the many people who have shared with us their hopes and dreams of home ownership in New Zealand. Generation Rent is everywhere, but their stories are untold.
We also met many people from many walks of life who genuinely wanted to fix the ‘housing mess’ but didn’t know how. They showed us an urgent need for someone to tell the story of the problem, how we got here and the possible solutions.
As renters ourselves and economists by training, we present this perspective based on personal experience, but also our work, our training, reading, and conversations with experts.
Shamubeel has worked on housing issues at NZIER and this book inevitably draws on and benefits from that work. Numerous public discussions, including an Auckland Conversation hosted by the Auckland Council shaped our understanding of the issues and the possible solutions.
We have both been influenced by the work of Edward Glaeser (Triumph of the City) and many others as can be seen in the endnotes. We appreciate the detailed data kindly provided by CoreLogic and Statistics New Zealand. Dr Kirdan Lees at NZIER provided helpful critique and Max Rashbrooke 181edited intelligently and asked hard questions. We benefited from the wisdom of many, but the views expressed, as well as any errors and omissions, are of course ours.
We can’t thank the team at BWB enough. Tom Rennie, thank you for believing in the project. The BWB Texts platform is a blessing to considered debate in New Zealand. The diligent and professional care of the BWB team through the writing, editing and publishing process is a privilege.
Our families have been encouraging and supportive. We are particularly thankful to our parents for their investment in our education, sometimes at great personal sacrifice.