What does the dream of owning a home mean in 2017? Is it still achievable for those not already on the property ladder – or even a worthwhile goal? And what are you willing (or able) to sacrifice in order to reach it? The Spinoff wants to hear your stories.
If you hadn’t heard, things are pretty dire out there for those of us who grew up believing the New Zealand dream was all about buying your own home.
Fewer of us have homes than we did 60 years ago. House prices are going up and wages aren’t.
But within that situation we know there is a huge spectrum of experiences. We have all seen the stories about the 21-year-old who bought his first house just through “hard work” (not disclosed: parental guarantor, lived with parents for years, help with deposit).
But we are after real stories that have flown under the radar – ones that are more representative of Kiwis’ experiences.
We at The Spinoff are creating an interactive documentary that explores the housing crisis through real data and real human stories – but we need you to help to make it happen.
Perhaps you are struggling to get on the property ladder after years of trying. Perhaps you have given up on that dream and resigned yourself to a different one.
Perhaps you have decided to get out of that race altogether and now have an entirely new idea about what constitutes the New Zealand dream in 2017.
If that sounds like you or someone you know then we would love to hear from you.
Get in touch at info@thespinoff.co.nz with a short outline about who you are and what your story is.
This post is part of Rent Week, our week-long series about why the experience of renting a home in NZ is so terrible, and whether anything can be done to fix it. Read the entire series here.
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