Who'd want to be a landlord now ?

[peat]

probably over half the people in NZ live somewhere where it doesnt really get that cold ever.

I never wanted to be a landlord. You are only going to make good income if you deal with the tenants yourself, and do many of the maintenance fixes yourself. Ugh, on both counts. For me. (N.B. I'm not dissing property ownership)
But it does only become passive income when you farm it out to RE management company - and they take a good chunk. Which means a larger portfolio is necessary to sustain income.

Still most or many (I reckon) landlords are in it for capital gains which is why NZ tenants get a raw deal coz there is a lot of turnover by the landlords to cash up.

[Bjauck]

probably over half the people in NZ live somewhere where it doesnt really get that cold ever. ...

Even though outside temperatures are colder in Winter in the UK and Ireland, people tend to have good Winter clothing. 95% of houses have central heating in the UK.

How many people in NZ get home from work and feel cold and damp as they wait for their heaters to warm up their poorly insulated houses?

[ynot]

40 years ago I moved from Auckland to Canada to live at the age of 25. I quickly realised how sub standard our housing was comfort wise back in NZ. Having grown up with it I never new any better. I put it down to the fact that unfortunately Auckland was not quite cold enough for the need to do anything about it. Climates like Canada
had no alternative from the beginning to deal with cold climate.

[Bjauck]

40 years ago I moved from Auckland to Canada to live at the age of 25. I quickly realised how sub standard our housing was comfort wise back in NZ. Having grown up with it I never new any better. I put it down to the fact that unfortunately Auckland was not quite cold enough for the need to do anything about it. Climates like Canada
had no alternative from the beginning to deal with cold climate.

Good insulation also keeps the building interior cooler in Summer as it does not heat up so much during sunny days.

[SBQ]

Good insulation also keeps the building interior cooler in Summer as it does not heat up so much during sunny days.

I have the same view. With climate change being a major issue, you'll probably find overeall people's standard of living will erode. I grew up in Canada and know about home comfort however, they're achieving this at a high cost carbon footprint. I do think the trend is changing in that NZ homes will never meet OECD level of comfort. But should they? If the climate is no so extreme, why go through the necessity, using the resources to achieve that standard? It's like the Passive Haus group in NZ pushing their ultra expensive building standards with absolutely no payback time. Kinda like trying to sell Ferrari's to Toyota customers.

As far as being a landlord, I keep hearing the prospects of making $ is less with new regulations. What else is there left for people to invest in?

[artemis]

.....How many people in NZ get home from work and feel cold and damp as they wait for their heaters to warm up their poorly insulated houses?

Most of those people will be homeowners so can choose to do something about it. Maybe pay 8 bucks or so for a plug in timer?