In this month’s issue we lead with a story on the Auckland Unitary Plan – while it may seem a very Aucklandcentric piece it does have relevance for investors nationwide.

The idea was to highlight a theme you will hear more about in the magazine. That is the changing face of property investment.

The so-called housing crisis in this country is really just a supply/demand imbalance. We need to build more houses.

While investors have traditionally bought what I call second-hand stock, ie: existing houses – in the future, I believe investors will play an important role in building new houses and creating new stock.

At first I wasn’t too caught up in the Unitary Plan, but sometime ago I heard Hamish Firth from Mt Hobson Group explain it all to a group of Auckland investors.

His presentation really opened my eyes to the opportunities the Unitary Plan has created for investors. Hence we asked him to write this piece for the magazine.

Even if you live outside of the Super City have a read as there are some really useful ideas in the piece.

Sticking with the supply/demand issue one thing the Government could do to help alleviate the problem is provide incentives to property investors to build more houses.

Instead of taking a punitive approach towards investors, it should be encouraging and coercing us to build more houses. It’s not just in Auckland where they are needed either.

Something else investors need to be aware of is proposals from a group called Renters United, which is encouraging the Government to put even more onerous restrictions on landlords. In essence they want the benefits of home ownership without actually buying a home.

The ideas, if adopted would tilt the playfield even further in tenants’ favour. What is a worry is the number of social groups which came out in support of the flawed ideas.

As investors we need to stand up and be even more vocal in defending what we do.

One of the best ways you can do this is to join your local property investors’ association. And finally I wanted to give a plug for the NZ Property Investors’ Federation’s annual conference which is being held in Dunedin in October.

I’ve been to many of these events over the years and they are a great way to learn more about investing and network with other landlords.

I always learn something and would strongly encourage you to attend. More details can be found at www.propertyconference.co.nz.

Successful investing.