KoalaCaroline

Hi, I just wanted to vent my thoughts really. I am really new to looking into New Zealand and from what I had previously read thought it was the ideal place for my kids. I have a son with Asthma so thought the clean air would be great. Having looked into this more thoroughly I now realise its not the dream I once thought. I have been reading that the property in NZ is really badly made/maintained, and for people with health problems damp and cold is really bad in the older houses.

I have been looking at some real estate pages and cant actually see many new properties, so my point is this. I am now really put off by the stories of chest infections, health problems because of bad housing. BUT am glad people are good enough to put the bad points on forums, without this insite I would still be merrily looking with rose tinted glassess on. For now I will continue to look around the web, definatley looking for double glazed and insulated houses thats for sure.

simonmarkellis

For me there is as much good housing as there is bad... yes the bad can be damp ridden, cold & and hazadous to your health... but dependant on your budget if buying straight off, you can get really good property as well. Our's has a HRV system which re cycles the air reducing mositure content in the house thus reducing condensation, reducing damp... Don't be put off, just be aware...

KoalaCaroline

Yeah I suppose, I am looking at the moment, just making sure to watch for double glazing and heating in the title!!

Tableland

There is so much crap on some of these threads that if you believed all of it you would be too scared to get out of bed in the morning, never mind go to NZ. Just research and make good decisions.

love30stm

Yes I agree with you Tableland, I remember looking at theses forums before we came out, and a lot of it as you say is a load of crap...If we took any notice of everything on here I would not have come....I stoped going on these forums until I emigrated, then i like to see what crap been written...but saying that there is a lot of good advice also...

shirl

Yes I agree too. Much of what is said you have to take with a pinch of salt and make your own mind up and do your research. I think if you have health issues and you can afford to build your own, buy a nice piece of land and get lots of input from different companies. You then decide the level of insulation and heating and HRV is very good for asthma - they are upping the ante as regards building here and have some really good rules and regulations. You will find the size of new homes staggering compared to the UK at a fraction of the cost of the Uk too. I would say that if you are worried about smog and level of air that maybe you opt for country living - although log burners are popular here the government are trying to phase them out and encourage pellet fires. I would steer clear of big cities with lots of traffic, are you considering north or south?

I have never lived in such a great house as the one I am in now but it is a brand new house and we would never have had this specification in the UK in our budget.

Good Luck.

Jokerman

[QUOTE=KoalaCaroline;6696662]Hi, I just wanted to vent my thoughts really. I am really new to looking into New Zealand and from what I had previously read thought it was the ideal place for my kids. I have a son with Asthma so thought the clean air would be great. Having looked into this more thoroughly I now realise its not the dream I once thought. I have been reading that the property in NZ is really badly made/maintained, and for people with health problems damp and cold is really bad in the older houses.

QUOTE]

Indeed. My rental would be really really unhealthy for any asthmatic. I realised one day that mold was eating it's way through the bottom of my mattress, bookcases, drawers and any other furniture....I thought it was dust but my friend knew otherwise....

Be careful what you rent in summer: I asked the landlady "is it warm in Winter?" She replied, "Oh yes!". Good one! Im outta here first chance I get - once the lease expires.

Can you get good rentals? Yeah, probably, but there are a lot of sharks out there. They're landlords - what do you expect?

KoalaCaroline

Thanks for replies, I really just need reassurance that NZ isnt as bad as I have just read about really. Read horrible stories about bullying in schools and the state of housing. Also read that NZ'ers hate the english and are horrible to them to the point of being down right rude. Just hope its not as bad a picture as is being painted.

shirl

Someone once told me to go to a website called http://www.expatexposed.com/ where I found loads and loads of very negative comments which they say is the real truth about New Zealand so much so that New Zealanders were registering to slate the people who said horrid things about their country. I did visit this site and it made me feel very sad. Yes every country has their problems, but at the end of the day it is your choice and if you don't like it when you get here you can always change your mind. I would say rent for a while to see if you are going to like it that way you are not tied to find a buyer for your property if you don't. Better to have tried it than to end your life with regrets and not have tried it. Hope that helps.

Avid

Things like bullying and rudeness depend almost entirely on luck (or the lack of it) and can happen anywhere. Obviously. Though you are far less likely to have 'Go back home Pom!' shouted at you in the centre of Wellington than if you lived in some shack in the middle of the South Island.

Good quality housing depends almost entirely on how much money you have. It exists, but there isn't so much of it and a lot of houses out here would be deemed unfit for habitation in the UK. But assuming you are coming over here with a job and some savings, you have nothing to worry about.

As for asthma, New Zealand is (with some regional variations) quite a cold, damp country with very high rates of asthma. And no amount of and 'go for it' will change that.

Jokerman

People are people...some are rude, some are angry, some are depressed.Some are rude. Customer service may suck. It's hard to generalise, right? You can't. Some kiwis don't like poms. Just as I don't like some kiwis, or even most kiwis. Most are indifferent to poms. Some are downright angry about poms. Some hate Americans. Others can't handle Asians, or Maoris. I was once told to "**** off back to the UK you pommy faggot" by a road-rage driver. Expect people here to be the same as people anywhere else. Some good, bad, crazy, mean, you name it! If you are looking for nirvana - you're in the wrong place.

luvwelly

Yes if that remark were shouted in Wellington CBD, half the street would turn round..thinking it meant them. But the pakeha are mainly all descended from white Europeans (usually British) so pom-hating is like hating your great great great grandparents so I actually don't think in Wellington you'll find too much of it.

Although to my surprise I did get called a typical pom by a kiwi lady recently...but I have also been really surprised to find how much NZers say they hate Aucklanders ...I just don't get it....I've asked for clarification and they expect me to understand but I don't...it's just small town mentality really as found everywhere in the world....best cultivate your Kiwi friends among those who have travelled/lived away themselves and you'll find better attitudes.

wannabekiwi

Hi KoalaCaroline,

my son suffers from Asthma too.
He had bad eczema until he was 4 and then the eczema stopped and his Asthma started. Now he gets hayfever on top of it.
I went through the same worries about NZ and the Asthma rates as you do right now.
My conclusion to this is that as long as we control his Asthma and try to avoid or reduce several triggers he will be as well off as he is in the UK.
It is not like he hasn't got it in the UK (and we live right by the sea at the mo!)
Hopefully he (now 6) will grow out of it sooner than later and will be happy that his condition didn't stop us moving to a country where he can be a happy boy doing fun things with his happy and relaxed family and friends!

Maybe this outlook would work for you too?

Avid

So...you haven't actually moved to NZ yet?

luvwelly

The cold damp housing is thought to contribute to the high asthma rate so you need to be sure you could afford dry warm housing to take that view.