TE ŌHANGA MAURI #142 - HOMES FOR FAMILIES: PUTTING PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT

Tēnā koutou e te whānau. In our first post, we looked at the "Leaky Bucket" and how shipping our raw logs offshore drains the life force of the North. Today, we are looking at what happens when we decide to keep that timber and use it for the most important thing of all: building warm, dry, and affordable homes for our own people.

The Problem: Houses as Bank Accounts

In the current system, a house is often treated as a financial asset first and a shelter second. This is what we call "Money-First Thinking." Banks and investors see a house as a way to generate interest and profit, which often means that prices stay high and our whānau stay trapped in the rent cycle.

When a family has to spend 50% or more of their income just to keep a roof over their heads, the "Mauri" (the life force) of that household is being drained. If the house is cold, damp, or overcrowded, it leads to sickness and stress. The system sees a "booming property market," but our research in Research Report #230 sees a community that is being exhausted by debt.

The Proposal: The Local Housing Factory

To change this, we are proposing a "Home-First" strategy. If we stop the leaks and keep our timber in the North, we can process it ourselves using our own local energy.