Value houses on performance

Property sector participants have become more aware of building issues like insulation and weathertightness in the wake of the leaky homes crisis

The Block NZ’s veteran foreman, Peter Wolfkamp, told last week’s Property Institute conference that, for this reason, people are, increasingly, asking questions about how well a house is built in terms of performance.

For example, they want to know about quality construction, insulation, weathertightness, and heating.

Wolfkamp said New Zealanders have come to expect warmer, drier, easier to heat and safer homes.

“Hopefully, the quality of building work will raise to meet expectations as the performance of our houses has been constrained by the Kiwi no.8 wire mentality which has not served our families well.”

Features such as quality construction should also be reflected in the value of a house, as opposed to basing value on seductive old tricks like a new paint job, he said.

“People should take advantage of the things, like insulation that is up to standard, that are available to make their houses better homes.

“And they should be looking at these features, rather than at design features like expensive, brand name fittings, when it comes to value because these features are good for our housing stock and good for our people.”

Wolfkamp said it is fashionable to hear people talk about where they think they are going to build to increase value compared to what they are going to build.

In his view, the idea that the value of the house is dependent on the area and/or the style of the houses needs to change.

“The value of a house can, and should, come down to the quality of the building and how the house performs.”

To achieve this, people need to see that investing in features like insulation make a better house and that that is reflected in the value of house, Wolfkamp suggested.

An objective way of assessing house performance is required, along with change in the building industry itself.

“Getting builders to change is one of the biggest road blocks to innovation. But if it is driven by consumers and consumer demand, which makes it easier to sell, that makes a difference.”