pippalonghorn

That is not affordable housing don't the government understand what that means? Apartments are no good for families with children anyway. We go crazy on rainy days in our little flat due to having no outside space.

bearskin

Out West is awesome. There are some really beautiful spots out there. You'd have to do quite a bit of investigation, like anywhere, as the suburbs are quite different and have a greater variation than on the Shore. Titirangi for example is pretty unique; and places out towards Oratia are semi-rural. The people are real characters - I love Westies - we have some ace friends from out Henderson/Swanson way.

bearskin

A lot of new developments are overpriced IMHO. The people building them reckon it's the price of the land, but if you want cheap, then a lot of the more desirable suburbs of Auckland are not that. There are suburbs that are more affordable but maybe not so desirable for your average migrant.

sr71

Keep hearing that from Australians and New Zealanders, but the reality is a large percentage of the world live and grow up in apartments/condos and it does them no harm. Two of the premier cities in the world, New York and Singapore would most exclusively be apartment living, apart from some uber-rich.

It's something that people are going to have to get used to. Most decent western cities are having an infix of people, higher density living is the only answer.

pippalonghorn

I can understand you're point. There is a lot of land here and I'm not suggesting in any way that all of the land should be built upon, I just think that there are other designs of affordable housing that could be explored here. Apartment living suits a lot of people it's just not for me. Keeping young children occupied and interested when you have no outside space of your own can end up being costly once you have explored all of the free things to do. It is nice to sit out in your garden and know your kids are playing away from traffic etc.

davros1984

Completely agree with what was said above. Apartments are part of the answer, but so is terraced, semi-detached and other types of housing. There is SO much wasted space in Auckland. Long driveways, gaps between houses, gaps between gardens and pavements, I am tempted to start taking photos (BEVS might like this) to prove the point.

You just have to drive around Onewa Road, Milford, Forrest Hill to see it.

I am not saying they should build hideous estates with 15 houses per hectare (or whatever the crazy figure is), but they do need to build more houses in a compact way without the excessive wastage around and between properties. This is exactly what the first-time buyer market needs.

sghall

Thanks for all your responses, maybe we wil look further afield that the north shore i.e west and do a bit of research into the areas.

BEVS

Les Des.Res.

Ruthhunt

Hi, I've been reading all your posts and found them so helpful, just a couple of questions, my husband has been offered a flooring job and it's 50k a year, he will be based in Auckland, I'll been looking at houses to rent for $350 a week, is that about average for the suberbs? Also I've got two daughters and need to find out about schools, are they hard to get into and what's the cost for the government funded ones?
Thanks

Assanah

It kind of depends where you would like to live in Auckland. Average rent is probably around $450 in Auckland as a whole (there are cheaper areas and more expensive ones). If you are looking at houses for $350 you might be lucky and find a good house in a decent suburb but be really, really careful with regards to the quality of housing especially with kids. Don't rent without viewing. My friends had a look around North Shore and were appalled at the quality of the houses and the expensive prices. The found a nice house in East Tamaki. I think they paid around $450 a week.

Ruthhunt

What are the better areas? And do you know roughly how much gas and electric is per month? I need to get an idea of what our monthly out goings well be, thanks!

gazmac

$64k is $30 per hour basic with penals and OT you could be earning over $80k

Check the NZNO MECA for Auckland for more info on the pay and conditions - Im in Mental Health and covered by a different MECA but they are similar.

You could afford to live in Auckland. The Shore is a nice place to live but expensive. There are 3 major hospital for you to choose from

North Shore
Auckland
Middlemore

If you live in the Shore, Middlemore (South Auckland) would be a real pain to get to, it can be done but there is a lot of communting, same.

I would not discount West or East Auckland, places like Botany, Howick are family firendly, South Auckland has a bad rep for poverty and gangs but some people dont mind it.

I worked at Middlemore and lived both in the CBD and in Pukekohe, the latter being the only commutable place where I could afford a house that wasnt a shed in someones garden.

As a Fifer I didnt find South Auckland all that bad compared to the likes of Methil but as a white person I did feel like I was in the Minority and this was a consideration for us moving to Nelson.

In the north shore there is a large South African population, some poeple joke that the biggest gangs in some suburbs of Auckland are the Brits and the South Africans. I found that there was suburb snobbery all over Auckland.

bourbon-biscuit

Unless you are bringing serious cash or are very good at managing on a small family income, don't go to Auckland! As a nurse you should be able to find work elsewhere, and on the kind of income you are talking about you stand a much better chance anywhere but Auckland. What are your priorities? You could get the beach lifestyle moving to Tauranga (Papamoa), for example. There are hospitals with emergency departments all over NZ!

Spacecake799

I really think you need to say what sort of lifestyle you have at the moment, what you hope to have in NZ. How often do you like your heating on, are you used to damp housing, any asthma sufferers?
We lived with 3 children in Torbay. There and Browns Bay have a few brits. We paid between $460-$550 pw rent. You will be lucky to get any sort of heating even at that price.
We used one heatpump and electric heaters whenever we wanted and paid $300 pm for the electric.
When we arrived in2006 my husband was on $53000, we pretty much paid ourselves from our savings to live there.
Make sure your moving for the right reasons. New Zealand is a beautiful country, the scenery is amazing. That doesn't pay the bills. The grass isn't always greener.
That said many people manage well and are very happy.
Good Luck

bourbon-biscuit

Major OUCH! That must have been tough.