Sir Stephen Tindall on KiwiBuild: "You can build houses for almost half the price they cost here"

Sir Stephen Tindall, founder of Warehouse, has expressed interest in the government's 100,000-house KiwiBuild program – and wonders why New Zealand can not keep up with other countries building homes at half-price.

Asked to comment after Housing Minister Phil Twyford announced yesterday 102 candidates for KiwiBuild prefabricated homes, Tindall said he considered this a promising initiative and revealed that he had played a role marginal in the industry.

Read more: NZ Super Fund at KiwiBuild at Home, Twyford Unveils 102 Candidates

"I gave some confidential logistical advice to one of the bidders, but I agreed not to disclose their contact information," he said.

Although he has been involved in affordable housing through the Tindall Foundation, his interest in this business is strictly personal.

"Compared to the past, housing has become too expensive for the average couple and we have to combine talents to solve this problem," he said.

"My interest in helping our country is that I think we have enormous potential to compare ourselves to other more efficient countries that have proven that they can build houses for almost half the price they cost." Here in New Zealand, anything I can do to assist any party with ambition and the means to do so, I am very happy to do, "he said.

His previous involvement in affordable housing dates back to the 1990s, when the Tindall Foundation brought together agencies such as Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army to create an organization that could advance ideas to make housing more affordable. After research and planning, the New Zealand Housing Foundation was created. Brian Donnelly, a specialist in social housing and affordable housing, is the executive director.

Mike Hosking of Newstalk ZB called KiwiBuild a "house of cards", but this week alone, the New Zealand Super Fund revealed that, like Tindall, he was also interested in KiwiBuild.

The $ 39.1 billion fund said it was "interested in exploring investment opportunities in the development of large-scale housing infrastructure and in modular / prefab housing".

Twyford did not mention the fund in its announcement of 102 candidates but said parties from New Zealand and overseas had submitted their ideas.

Businesses have been invited to suggest ways to help KiwiBuild increase housing supply, increase productivity and create affordable housing for first-time buyers, he said.

Twyford said yesterday that off-site innovative manufacturing was a key part of KiwiBuild's plan to enable innovation and scale to generate a dramatic change in terms of availability, quality and price. housing.