The longtime president of the NZPIF discusses his greatest regret and proudest accomplishment.
The longtime president of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation (NZPIF) has resigned after working on behalf of property investors for a quarter of a century.
Andrew King, one of New Zealand’s top lobbyists, is heading on a seven-month motorcycle ride from San Francisco to Santiago, Chile, with his wife, as part of a plan to motorbike throughout the Americas.
In a letter to members, King listed his accomplishments, which included preventing the introduction of capital gains taxes “not once, not twice, but three times,” continuing to “halt a rental property WOF and draconian rental freezes,” and supporting mandatory smoke alarms, insulation, and the majority of the Healthy Homes requirements “while preventing costly suggestions,” as reported by Stuff.
The choice to retire was not made lightly, according to King, and the timing made it more difficult since he viewed the next election as the greatest reckoning for investors since the introduction of capital gains taxes.
This was due to the government’s policy limiting investors’ ability to deduct rental property mortgage interest from their taxes.
King stated that while National has pledged to reverse the shift, a federation study found that if Labour stayed in power, the policy might drive one-fifth of investors to liquidate their holdings.
King stated that his greatest regret was not persuading the administration not to execute the program.
“It feels like unfinished business, but I also believe we may require new personnel. “I believe I’ve served my sentence,” he remarked.
On the other side, King’s finest moment was when he helped create the Winter Energy Payment system.
“Approximately 43,000 children were hospitalized due to living in chilly, wet homes, and we were essentially held responsible,” he claimed. “According to our survey, even when our members installed heat pumps, the renters did not switch them on. This was brought up with the Otago medical school.”
This reinforced the conclusion that energy poverty existed. This meant tenants with limited resources chose not to spend their money on heating.
King told Stuff, “I came up with the notion, and I’m pretty proud that the money would not go straight to the renter because they’re under a lot of pressure to spend it elsewhere.” The funds were intended to be sent straight to the energy provider. Phil Twyford was their housing representative then, so when I told him I thought it was a fantastic concept, he elaborated on it.
