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Simplifying design is exactly what should be the answer to a housing crisis IMO. Nowadays we build too many houses with upper middle-class designs (and costs) because they're the only people who can actually afford houses.

But go back to the sorts of builds from the 70s & 80s. Typically around 100-120m2, 3 bedroom, rectangular. Yeah they're not architectural delights, but they kept families dry and warm.

Nowadays in a lot of places we're building in-fill town houses with a similar aesthetic and I know a lot of people don't like it but I think overall its probably a good idea. Even in smaller centres like Hastings it can work so long as we get the community spaces right as well.

Compared to a lot of builds $335k is low cost, but in terms of affordability its still stupidly expensive - and my gut feel is that the benefit of smaller, pre-fab, self-assembled, lower-quality panels here isn't turning being passed through to the final cost. Also, is a CLT just a newfangled SIP? I wonder if a better option is a pre-assembled deliver & drop house, if Brittons etc can move around 120m2 Villas surely we can design 2-4 part new houses that can be built off site, under cover and then driven and fit together on site?

My first house was a 2 bed 84m2 ex state house built in the 40s. It was fine for a couple and a dog but being a 40s design there was a lot of space utilised in a way that modern houses don't do. We had a large kitchen/dining, which was separated from the lounge - nowadays open plan gives the illusion of more space at the expense of cooking sounds & smells being enjoyed by whomever is watching TV :) But the advantage is they could fit a 3rd bedroom into a small home which makes it an option for families.

OK, found various sites with various estimates, but all of them suggest that this pre-fab and build yourself is probably overly expensive.

2022 - $2460 / m2 (https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/building-costs-per-square-metre.html) 2023 - $3145 / m2 (https://mortgages.co.nz/what-does-it-cost-to-build-a-house-in-nz/) 202? - $3500 / m2 (https://www.buildingguide.co.nz/planning/building-costs/)

That last one is an estimate for the very basic level, which I think is pretty close to being better than this pre-fab option.

Yeah that's what I was looking at, its nearly $4k / m2 which is kinda crazy.

I'm trying to find papers showing cost of building over time but so far only got to this one where it was demonstrated back in 2008 (by a now merged Department of Building and Housing) that a starter house could be done for less than 1.5k/m2 - and that included labour.

Do you even get enough for putting power on the grid to make the setup of all that worthwhile?

Yeah I am tempted to wait a bit for battery technology to change to a point where the cost per Kwh for storage has become as attractive as the solar generation improvements did. I think the volume of battery will always be a factor but some of the new research into Sodium Ion look pretty interesting.

I need to look into emergency electricity again; not going to get panels & battery for the house any time soon (or at least, not this year) but feels like being more prepared would be sensible just in case a similar Tam/Gabrielle hits Hawke's Bay again.

Setting aside all the other stuff.

Are claiming that Russia was not the aggressor in this current war? If so, what's your argument, that it was a response to provocation? If so, what was such a provocation that justified invading another sovereign nation (again)?

https://archive.ph/WSjFp

I was trying to figure out the same thing, Ford Utes? But they might actually be made somewhere in SEA for all I know given they're right-hand drive models. Teslas will be coming from there and it would be a good energy move to put tarrifs on electric vehicles imported from USA just to spite space karen. I'm sure there's plenty of other mundane stuff we just don't think about.

I don't think its just bigotry, there's a load of tradition and history that ties particularly Pakeha New Zealand to the west. And without devolving into bothsidesism (although, obviously it is) some people do have questions about aligning with regimes accused of human rights abuses and what not.

I think NZ does need to start having the discussion though; the old assumptions and alliances are bending and its foolish not to ask where our future alignment is best placed.

There are not many countries in the world where that would be true. And in many of the countries where that is true the arrests are often not on the judicial merits but more arbitrary wings of power blocks flexing their muscles.

One of the differences here is that in NZ we tend to find out about this sort of "light" corruption.

On another note, What will likely happen - along with most of the things our dairy lobby pushes, is that as trading partners like the US become unreliable and market realities change we will need to meet the standards we've just rejected anyway.

Its the same story as the eggs thing a couple years ago. The weakened voluntary standards didn't meet the demand of the market and those that hadn't opted to invest in what the market wanted were left behind. Same thing will happen to our agriculture if they want to continue to sell into Europe and China will just flex whatever they want so like it or not the increased standards will be coming down the line anyway.