Charismatic

Human population of New Zealand hits 5 million:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/new-zealands-population-passes-5-million

If only it where as easy to breed native birds as it is humans.

Justcol

I'm sure there'll be a pretty good population hike around Xmas when all the covid babies are born

Clappy

I can't wait to find out if the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages will allow Covid as a baby name.
The rules are clear that Covid-19 will not be allowed but what about just the Covid part?
https://www.govt.nz/browse/family-an...ing-your-child

Bo-Jangles

Sadly, there are people elsewhere in the world that already saddled their poor little babies with names like Lockdown, Corona, Covid and Sanitiser.

I expect the names Ashley and Siouxsie might be popular in NZ this year.

inkedneonurse

oh yeah Kovide,kwarateen and K’arona are defo. Coming down the pipe baby name wise

Justcol

😂🤣😂
Pity the children

Mishclark

Oh god poor things!

paddy234

Still such a small population for a nation 20% larger than the UK. Bring on the migrants

Justcol

Cant house the people who are already here.
More people will simply make house prices rocket making them even less affordable for young and first time buyers

paddy234

New Zealand could easily introduce regional immigration similar to Australia meaning the regions most in need could get access to the workforce they require. Most migrants who come to New Zealand stay in Auckland. Meanwhile many other regions have been suffering stagnation. Christchurch for example has no shortage of housing, the housing market here has been flat for years yet due to how many new houses are being built they are at a higher standard than much of the country. The South Island is almost twice the size of Ireland yet with it's 1 million people spread mostly over 2 cities it is incredibly bare. Many people here whine about how wages are low and everything is so expensive yet at the same time don't want the heavy investment that will heavily develop new cities and regions and introduce more opportunities in employment. They can't have their cake and eat it. Either New Zealand adapts or it will continue to live in Australia's shadow. There is a reason why most people stay in Auckland (opportunities). Lets get the other regions booming

Justcol

Chch is an anomaly. So much building and development after the quake.

Dunedin house prices are through the roof and climbing. There's little room for new developments. New builds are mostly around the Mosgiel area and are already expensive. Much of the land is flood plain and remedying that costs, which pushes prices up. Away from there development tends to be in a narrow strip along SH1.Central has little or no room to grow, there just isn't the employment, industry or infrastructure.
It isn't as easy as simply opening the gates for more migrants. If providing affordable housing was simple kiwibuild wouldn't be the monumental disaster that it is

paddy234

Christchurch managed to meet demand because the city council removed severe restrictions on land developmet. When i first arrived here people were paying over $550,000 for small cold, damp old homes, you can now get a warm new home for that price. Dunedin is going through a Boom. The fact there is a shortage of housing means supply isn't meeting demand due to a strong local economy and restrictions

As for developing surrounding land pushing prices up, Christchurch is largely built on marshland, after the earthquake most of the subdivisions were built around satellite towns such as Rangiora, Kaiapoi and Rolleston which are 20-30 mins drive outside town. Dunedin would also have to look at something similar and develop surrounding land and remove restrictions. Would that development push prices up? No, Unaffordable housing is largely down to inflated land prices which have went up 50% in 10 years. The issue is less about land availability and more about restrictions and red tape from greedy councils. I seen what happened when those restrictions were removed. Obviously Dunedin will need to invest in infrastructure to support this however it is clear this will need to be done sooner rather than later