By Alex Tarrant
New Zealand's 121 members of Parliament own, or have interests in, at least 292 properties between them, according to Parliament's latest register of pecuniary interests.
That's an average of 2.4 properties each. However, that's most probably an understatement as 60% of MPs declared a beneficial interest in a trust, while some just registered "properties" without giving exact figures. Some of our Maori MPs also have large interests in communally-owned land.
Only ten of our MPs didn't declare that they owned, or had an interest in, any property. Included were Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye and Labour contender Jacinda Ardern, who have both publicly said how hard and expensive it was for them to buy houses in their electorate.
Among the remainder, 40 owned just one property - generally the family home. That left 71 owning two or more properties - about 60% of all MPs.
National's Napier MP Chris Tremain registered the biggest holding of 20 properties, including his family home, a bach, three parcels of land, five residential investment properties, four apartment residential investment properties, and six commercial investment properties.
National list MP Jian Lang came in second, with eight properties - the family home and seven rentals.
In fact, National MPs held the top 12 spots outright. Of National's 59 MPs, 55 registered that they owned, or had an interest in, property. Of these, 40 owned more than one property.
Prime Minister John Key had six properties to his name, including his Maui beach house. Labour leader David Shearer had three.
The best Labour could muster for any one MP was four properties, for each of Raymond Huo, Shane Jones, Iain Lees-Galloway, Sue Moroney, and finance spokesman David Parker. Thirty-one of Labour's 34 MPs owned property; 19 had more than one.
West Coast-based Green MP Kevin Hague also registered four properties. Greens co-leaders Russel Norman and Meteria Turei each listed a family home. Eleven of the Greens' 14 MPs owned property, with five owning more than one.
Perhaps competing with the Prime Minister's beach views, but probably not the heat, was Green MP Mojo Mathers' interest in Lamledra House (owned by a trust), in Gorran Haven, Cornwall, the UK.
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters also registered four properties. All eight of NZ First's MPs owned property, with three owning more than one.
ACT leader John Banks registered an interest in just a family home, while Mana's Hone Harawira registered two family homes, and UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne a home and bach.
91 Comments
I would go further than that and say that any financial system that relies on the decision making of a select few is inevitably going to become corrupted. That is why a gold or silver standard is the only honest system where politicians can’t tinker with the numbers to get re-elected. And as for the RBNZ deciding the interest rate, that is just as phoney, markets price debt much more fairly/efficiently than a central bank.
Remember that whenever we have artificially low interest rates the borrower is being subsidised by the savers, thus creating an environment where responsible saving is discouraged.
I agree, Bernard, political objectivity should always be challenged when it's found wanting. By the way, did you notice that Chris Tremain who owns the most investment properties, is a young 46? Isn't that a similar age to you? Certainly he's not a baby boomer. I wonder what this might be telling us?
"By the way, did you notice that Chris Tremain who owns the most investment properties, is a young 46? Certainly he's not a baby boomer."
Let me see, 2012-46=1966. I hope your comment is a typo.
Well, his family own & run a real estate company, so makes sense.
Last time I checked this was a free (ish) country not run by Communism yet. We are all free to buy, own & sell whatever we choose (within legality).
Jealousy never prospers yourself.
Just demonstrates that property and home ownership is a popular choice by many NZ-ers. They exercise their freedom and don't generally listen to the doom & gloomers or the advocates of share market gamblers & other corporate systems that can make your investment disappear down a black hole - your house & your rental will not be swindled away from you by clever suits - unless you overleverage....
Hi there
Im glad to see you dont listen to doom and gloomers. Thats a very good thing, otherwise what I say next may alarm you.
I run a site called tenancy support ( if you google that we are one of the first that pop up for NZ ) its quite new, and completely free, but wouldn't you just know it, tenants love our site, especially the main point of the site where we allow them to give their past and present landlords actual ratings etc etc but I digress, we go further by listing an estimated 500,000 Tenancy Tribunal court proceedings for members to go through at their leisure, and we even offer cheap advertising of rentals for landlords who get good ratings from tenants... and those doom and gloom type landlords mutter that having actual real feedback from actual past tenants, about many landlords in this country, will certainly be the death of many a landlord who may have taken the odd shortcut in their past...and we happily agree and say..."yes....thats the point!!!"
And yes, we are sharing this article with our many current members, educating tenants nationwide about the issues as well as their rights and responsibilities under current New Zealand law, while discussing what would happen if every tenant and good landlord in New Zealand joined hands and as one group said...."enough is enough"
You can find us on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/TenancySupportServices
Or just register at our actual site
http://www.tenancysupport.co.nz/
Well, his family own & run a real estate company, so makes sense.
Last time I checked this was a free (ish) country not run by Communism yet. We are all free to buy, own & sell whatever we choose (within legality).
Jealousy never prospers yourself.
Just demonstrates that property and home ownership is a popular choice by many NZ-ers. They exercise their freedom and don't generally listen to the doom & gloomers or the advocates of share market gamblers & other corporate systems that can make your investment disappear down a black hole - your house & your rental will not be swindled away from you by clever suits - unless you overleverage....
I would suggest that legal is in constant battle with ethical, with a gradual degradation over time with a good cleanout required occassionally. Is not jealousy what underlies the greed? If unearned income isn't greed(property investment included), then what is it?
Well thanks for the support Gummy. Gees mate you are onto something if you lay the blame elsewhere everytime you make a dick of yourself, would come in mighty handy for me anyway.
Actually something I found out a couple of weeks ago would put me closer to the atoms Benjamin Franklin, well my invention follows in the footsteps of one if his anyway.
You're reinvented bi-focal lenses ?
..... a great boon to those whose prime need is to insert a flexible urinary catheter into a patient who's busily playing the glass armonica !
Wouldn't wanna insert it in the wrong spot and make an enema out of a former friend ....
Interesting what you say PDK, in the sense of what you see and what lesser minds have. On the face of it it looks like I made a fool of myself, which I did. But an astute person like yourself discerns that my foolishness was not the obvious mistake, but the act of engaging in goldilocks behaviour. Food for thought my friend.
...... the lightening rod ! ...... that was one of Benny Franklin's inventions ........ you're made a Kiwi version of ole Ben's lightening rod ........ Mr scarfie will be on the roof in the thunderstorm , waving his golfing irons up in the air ......
Am I right , or am I right ....... I'm right , aren't I !!!
aside from all the hoo haa here you would have to be fairly happy with these recent developments in chch would you not.---a feature on andrew pattersons thread maybe?
It said on Closeup that he has been fighting bureaucrats for 10 years, poor bastard. I wish him the best in getting some traction. I talked with someone tonight that explained the features of his stove to me. From that I would say it would be a pretty safe bet to assume Roger Best knows more about low emissions than any bureaucrat anywhere in the country. Give the man a job at the Ministry!
I saw National MP Melissa Lee at 1 Bourne St, Mt Eden open home today. She told the RE agent she is looking to invest in a couple more investment properties and asked if the agent would call her to talk about this one she just viewed...obviously interested as she was surprised to find the self-contained flat underneath the house, she told the agent.
"By the way, did you notice that Chris Tremain who owns the most investment properties, is a young 46? Certainly he's not a baby boomer."
A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom between the years 1946 and 1964
Let me see, 2012-46=1966.
You know, scafie, my old grandmother use to say, sometimes it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Sage advice that you should take on board.
And quite why INTEREST RATES have been forced down to keep the ELITE afloat.
I repeat myself daily.
VESTED INTERESTS DO NOT AN ECONOMY MAKE.
BAILING OUT...the ELITE is not ........................WORKING.
And SHEARER...is as hypocritical as Cullen...................
No small wonder his VOTERS are not WORKING, nor can ever own an over priced house.
Ramped up by a failing system.
No small wonder the elite want inflation.....so the pork can continue.
De-leveraging is rife around the World.
But the FAT CATS here and there are a protected species.
Working the system, they devised, they support, they will NEVER, NEVER, CHANGE.
GBH,
WITH YOU ON THIS ONE
IT IS WHEN THE WHOLE DANG POST IS IN CAPITALS THAT I BELIEVE THAT BERNARD CAN VALIDLY ASK TO NOT USE CAPS LOCKS.
WHEN, AS ALTER EGO HAS, THERE IS JUDICIOUS INTERMINGLING OF CAPS ON AND CAPS OFF, THEN I BELIEVE BURNHARDER NEEDS TO BACK OFF JUST A LITTLE.
.... and if we each rent the house we live in , but rent out the house that we have a mortgage on ...... everyone will get negative gearing ....every single family in the country will be porking the system ....... if that isn't egalitarian , comrade , then I don't know what is ....
WFF be damned , this'll be a bigger rort than that ....... haaaaaaaaaaaa !
This goes a long way to explaining why so many MPs seem blind to the affordability issue, paying lip service to it from time to time but not seeming to fully grasp just how expensive and difficult it is for first home buyers, even with record low interest rates.
Jacinda Ardern and Nikki Kaye, who are both young and both based in central Auckland, are two of the few who really understand just how high house prices are. When even these highly-paid MPs can't afford a house, what chance do those on lower incomes have?
I shudder to think that we might have to wait until their generation (my generation) is in charge before something is done about this.
Would it be stating the obvious to comment that owning these multiple properties show a lack of interest in PRODUCTIVE investments.
Before anyone suggests that to own a farm is productive, just look at whether for most MP farmers the farm is a residence that becomes a bolt hole with a big capital gain at the end of it.
Or rather wealthy...may just be part of a wider investment portfolio.
The problem is we have no main industry that doen't run without tax payers money...let alone mnay productive ones!!!
Property - subsidy by WFF and accomodation subs.
Farming -Development expenditure, tax deductibility catergory very broad so can pay limited income tax and collect the capital gain tax free.
Tourism -Local and central Government subsidies via venue and events....conference market dominated by the public sector.
Charities - some people do very well out of Government contracts.
Banking/finance - been cover well here already
I was re-reading bruce Shepards peice on land tax (of which he has some experience). What goes against it is its immediate effects (versus its long-term effects). Ananalogy would be breaking a leg to reset it.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/blogs/stirring-the-pot/3286437/The-ins-and-outs-of-a-land-tax
We need to improve the political system as it operates at the lowest level (rhetoric/ misinformation). The govt is ttrying to get rid of public broadcasting (for instance) yet we need public broadcasting where analysis is based on critical thinking (not advertisers preference).
Well well well
Wellington Wellington Wellington
It's pretty damn hard to change the status quo when our venerated leaders have so much invested in it. I would like to think that they aren't consciously avoiding changes to keep their investments buoyant, rather there might be some unconscious influence. But who knows?
With this sort of bias, it is difficult to see how our taxation system is ever likely to be re-balanced to create a level playing field, where productive and export-oriented enterprises can compete fairly with the likes of property speculation.
The country as a whole is the loser from this systemic corruption. Pity.
I agree Matt and the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights has a clause that people have the right to own property.
Article 17.- (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
- (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Maybe the Politicians should be giving up all their perks after life in Parliament like their special retirement plans, cheap flights etc.
And as for the MP's who claim they can't afford property maybe the need to take some financial/budgeting/tax advice.
The inference in the article is that MP's owning property has a causal link with high house prices.
No evidence has been given for this 'link' other than house prices are high and the assumption MP's are corrupt and only act in self interest.
If there was some evidence presented that showed that the number of houses owend by MP's had increased along with house prices there might be a shred of logic, but there isn't. It is just as likely that when houses were cheaper MP's may have owned more houses than they do now, in which case the illogical causal arguement would be that the more houses MP's own the cheaper houses are.
I suspect that MP's are disproportionatly represented in every asset class. Why doesn't article mention how much $ of shares MP's have relative to the general populace and infer that they therefore have a vested interest in the share market?
The inference in the article is that MP's owning property has a causal link with high house prices
I disagree. I don't think it infers that MPs owning multiple properties causes high house prices. I think it infers that because MPs own lots of properties, they have a vested interest in maintaining status quo policies that have an inflationary effect on property, rather than supporting things like proper planning reform that will free up housing supply and therefore having the effect of reducing likely capital gains on properties, including those owned by MPs. It's a subtle difference.
Clearly, if MPs were consciously and deliberately not changing policies so that their properties appreciated in value, then that would be acting in self-interest and would be arguably corrupt. However as stated earlier, it is quite likely that more subtle subconscious influences may be at play. That is, the MPs aren't getting together and coluding, and denying policy change because it suits their interests. Rather, at the subconscious level, in their deliberations and analysis, they know that radical change could undermine their investments.
Don't underestimate the power of the subconscious!!!!
Matt
I think you are being too kind. I would say many of them , especially in the Nats. consciously rail against policy changes that affect their financial interests. This government has buried the recommendations made in the housing affodability study. Have flat out refused to enter debate on a capital gains tax.
"they know that radical change could undermine their investments" - if they know it, its not subconscious. Agree there is no explicit collusion, but MPs are fully aware of how removing inflationary policies will affect their porfolios. Thats got to be a factor in their policies. Its a bit like NIMBYISTS being concerned about the heritage and environmental aspects of their neighbourhoods - their real concern is their home value.
What about when those Police that moonlight as councillors? Don't know if there are any current in this situation, buy I know of situations where it has been so. Do your homework and see who amongst current was formerly in the ranks.
Councillors in general could be even closer to the action than MP's
Nah Nah Nah , you have all got this all wrong . Kiwis are benefitting from owning rental property , big time .
Its the most direct way we can benefit finincailly and profit from the governments immigration policies and and restriction of land- for-housing- development policies.
There will always be an immigrant to screw over when he lands at Auckland airport and has to rent one of our astromonically expensive houses .
Auckland Coucil's restrictive and rapicious fee rorting behaviour when it comes to land development consents , is just the cherry on top.
As long as it carries on , and there is no political will to change the status quo, it will be very good for us to speculate in property.
My good friend ChrisJ was good enough to link interest.co.nz readers to the recordings of Tacitus recently, and Tacitus has recorded the very difficulty with this sort of behaviour at 6:16
"Meanwhile a powerful host of accusers fell with sudden fury on the class which systematically increased its wealth by usury in defiance of a law passed by Cæsar the Dictator defining the terms of lending money and of holding estates in Italy, a law long obsolete because the public good is sacrificed to private interest. The curse of usury was indeed of old standing in Rome and a most frequent cause of sedition and discord, and it was therefore repressed even in the early days of a less corrupt morality. First, the Twelve Tables prohibited any one from exacting more than 10 per cent., when, previously, the rate had depended on the caprice of the wealthy. Subsequently, by a bill brought in by the tribunes, interest was reduced to half that amount, and finally compound interest was wholly forbidden. A check too was put by several enactments of the people on evasions which, though continually put down, still, through strange artifices, reappeared. On this occasion, however, Gracchus, the prætor, to whose jurisdiction the inquiry had fallen, felt himself compelled by the number of persons endangered to refer the matter to the Senate. In their dismay the senators, not one of whom was free from similar guilt, threw themselves on the emperor's indulgence. He yielded, and a year and six months were granted, within which every one was to settle his private accounts conformably to the requirements of the law."
"Mortgagee sales have hit record numbers, and landlords are the new victims." herald
What's going on!.....the liars are telling us that property never falls in value...the parasites are offering cheaper credit to entice more idiots into a mortgage...but more 'landlords' are being slaughtered....
Meanwhile in some parts of Auckland..the Asian loot is rushing in to blow the bubble larger...
Keep your eyes open for a govt bailout to save the landlords..(and all the govt property owning landlords too)....look for an increase in the accommodation landlords benefit payout..perhaps an option to capitalise on this handout...anything to prevent the blood splashing on govt landlord leather shoes.
"We must prevent property becoming affordable for most Kiwi families..we must ensure they have to borrow from a parasite...we owe it to ourselves to drive this policy farce...the parasites depend on these policies!."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7070430/Record-mortgagee-sales-ne…
Interesting....I wonder if this explains the "rush" to sell in May....ie Banks have been sitting on these until a pick up so they can sell into an "improving" market....makes it hard to see whats really happening of course....
SK, Chrisj and biggdaddy should be out there buying l;ike crazy!!!!! you just know they cant do wrong!!!!!
</joke>
regards
Yes...though maybe its more of an advantage being taken of the situation...occam's razor.
It would be intersting to see if there is a ratio change underway...ie less PIs (though the fewer might own more?) and more first time home owners with 95% mortgages......I wonder what that does do to the risk profiles...ie we have full recourse which clearly applies against the poor sods with 95% gambled on for a home. Are PIs as exposed? and hence the banks are exposed more?
How are house sales in Marlborough btw? picking up? there seemed to be a lot of nice houses in the $400K+ range over there. I always wonder where the quantity of the ppl are that earn the money to afford that sort of mortgage outside of the big three cities...
regards
Lol the Herald article on the same news was a bit more nuanced. Had to love the spin from the REI though. Its a sign of buoyancy if the banks take the opportunity to unload their shadow inventory of mortgagee properties. A few days ago it was there are fewer mortgagee sales because the market had picked up to such a degree people were able to sell before becoming delinquent on their mortgage.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/property/news/article.cfm?c_id=8&objectid=10811818
Real Estate Institute chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said the rising number of mortgagee sales could be reflecting a stronger housing market.
"Banks might be taking the opportunity of buoyant prices to release stock that's been lurking for a while."
capitalising and over leveraging on the low interest here in little ole nz is what you would expect.
benefiting from the low interest is a govt beneficiaries dream. that is why houses are so important to a govt beneficiary.
saving your soul, but losing the plot is a savers dream.
trafficking in high interest is burnhards dream.
It's all a dream an illusion....now.
cheap tricks do not an economy make.
and i never used my capital once.....but that do not change anything.
eu folly, imf folly, ecb folly, bernanke's folly, a flow on effect.
whether ye are short sighted, long sighted, or over ...excited.
read my lips. my capital has stopped flowing.....
FULL STOP.
BYE.
Food for thought:
http://smh.domain.com.au/blogs/talking-property/seniors-struggling-to-m…
"Australia's over 50s are facing a combined repair bill of $5.57 billion to fix more than 17 million defects in their homes.
The most common issues reported in research by insurance provider Apia were leaking taps (41%), trees that need to be trimmed for safety reasons (39%), cracks in walls (38%), insect or vermin infestations (33%){ a common problem at the Lodge}, and blocked drains (27%). Nearly half (43%) of the survey's respondents said they didn't have the skills to fix the problems around their home."is NZ property really that strong?
Foreclosures at record highs:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/7070430/Record-mortgagee-sales-near-six-a-day
it's a funny mix at the moment. Residential buildings consents actually dropped in the March quarter, contrary to those Nostradamus's Westpac's prediction of a 5% rise. So the crap supply response is going to minimise any falls. But at the same time unemployment is going up, there will be less job opportunites here in Aus, and some kiwis may even return putting more pressure on jobs in NZ
So I can't see gains overall being any higher than inflation for quite some time
And with great uncertainty in Europe and China - the risks are on the down side rather than the upside
Information and statistics regarding foreign ownership of Australian property is currently unavailable due to censorship, blanking and redacting by the Federal Government[11]
In December 2008, the federal government introduced legislation relaxing rules for foreign buyers of Australian property. According to FIRB (Foreign Investment Review Board) data released in August 2009, foreign investment in Australian real estate had increased by more than 30% year to date. One agent said that "overseas investors buy them to land bank, not to rent them out. The houses just sit vacant because they are after capital growth."[12]
In April 2010, the government announced amendments to policies to "ensure that foreign non-residents can only invest in Australian real estate if that investment adds to the housing stock, and that investments by temporary residents in established properties are only for their use whilst they live in Australia."[13][14]
Under the rules, temporary residents and foreign students will be:
- Screened by the Foreign Investment Review Board to determine if they will be allowed to buy a property.
- Forced to sell property when they leave Australia.
- Punished if they do not sell by a government-ordered sale plus confiscation of any capital gain.
- Required to build on vacant land within two years of purchase to stop "land banking".
Failure to do this would also lead to a government-ordered sale.[15]
The sooner investment properties are seperated by some unique tax law from dwellinghouses and commercial/industrial properties that make the later much more attractive the better.
Paying in excess of 50% of your income in rent should be a crime.. and there seems to be alot of these real estate companies that act for absantee landlords that are almost a cartel.
At a time when housing stocks are at shortages this should be sending us warning signs that our economy is somehow broken...???
Only in ancient Rome did we see property ownership become the burden that seperated classes... will we see this occour in NZ as well?
I think the health of children is already a pre-eminiat indicator of this..
Don't buy an investment property... invest in a business.
Then we all might be able to afford a modest house at not Auckland prices.
If asset sales boost share holding practices then I endorse it...
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