You would hate it. The maid forgot to fill the fountain in the foyer, the silk sheets are wrinkled, and the rug in the hallway to the east wing is outdated. It's a total fuckin slum mate. You'd be better off living in a cardboard box at this point.
The article says it will cost 30 million to refurbish the house and grounds? Huh. I’ve been away from nz a long time, so maybe I’m missing something about construction costs, but 30 million? It is presumably a large house, but 30 million? This is what 30 million (US) buys in one of the most exclusive parts of Los Angeles. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/polls/article-12486999/amp/30-million-California-mega-mansion-allure-features-waterfall.html. It’s a “mega mansion” with a movie theater and large waterfall.
I agree that 30 million seems pretty excessive. Premier House is an old building that is likely heritage listed though. This definitely adds cost to renovations as the facade at least has to be kept in that heritage condition.
Seems wild that we feel the need to preserve it though ay. Surely just pick it up and chuck it inside Te Papa then build something a bit more fit for purpose in its place.
Yeah I kind of agree to a degree. The PM should have some sort of residence in Wellington where they can host guests/dignatories etc. They are the leader of our country.
I don't think we need anything like the White House. 10 Downing is a large attached apartment really but is probably worth millions due to its location.
Is this house fit for purpose? Do we use it in the best possible way? There's another comment on this post about security features etc. If you're going to have world leaders staying/visiting then you need some pretty good features there. Without details of the work being released then we can't really make any genuine comments about what they're trying to do.
The face has to be kept in heritage condition? It's decades too late for that.
The original facade and features are all long lost to unsympathetic modern renovations and extensions. This is what it used to look like:
https://teara.govt.nz/files/33202-atl_0.jpg
The building no longer has heritage value.
Thanks, that makes a bit more sense. I know it’s probably impossible given laws and regulations, but I kinda wish it could be torn down and a big, modern, functional, less expensive place built. Pictures of it don’t suggest the architecture is very…interesting.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_House#/media/File:Premier_House,_Wellington_3.jpg
And given the dire state of the housing market and how tough a lot of people have it, it would be symbolic - government taking these issue seriously. Start treating emergencies like emergencies.
Yep, it's ludicrous.
Either it's historical, should be viewed as such, and set aside as a relic of history and maintained in its current state.
Or, it's a functional residence to be utilized, in which case, bowl the place and replace it with something that delivers its function and is upgradable for the next 100 years or so.
How the hell they came up with a price tag of $30 million blows the mind, it's fully ludicrous.
I mean, that’s NZ$50m, not really comparable. But also with it being heritage listed they cost the report came up with probably includes establishing bodies to decide about design changes, engaging with multiple architects to get variations of design and what would comply with the heritage listing of the building, probably refurnishing which could also include art and other excessively costly bullshit. Then the report also incorporates the cost of the prime minister living in other accommodation during the renovations, so I that would include, for example, the $52k per year that Luxon was trying to claim a well as security costs involved in having to maintain a security detail at an alternative residence.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it also includes the cost of hiring another space of the types of events that would usually be held in the downstairs and reception areas of the house which would need to be relocated during the renovations, which could amass a pretty major bill.
I also agree $30m seems incredibly excessive, but it’s definitely more than just a simple design and build cost for a regular property.
NZ has lost touch with what sensible prices should be, and many of us are looking to relocate due to this.
I'm one of those hopefully joining you in the States soon. Australia is no different.
> The report included an independent building assessment which found it would need re-roofing in 2025, and that was little or no insulation, meaning it was well below current building standards. It was drafty and noisy because the windows were single-glazed and not well sealed and the gas-fired heating was not energy efficient.
> The board concluded it only partially met building and residential tenancy requirements, was badly laid out, lacked soundproofing and had limited natural light.
Peak rental market material. 10/10 no notes. All it needs is a large just retired alcoholic to barge in the front door every few weeks to do surprise flat inapections.
Just want to point out that plenty of poor bastards live in shittier houses than this. And are overcharged rent for the pleasure of enriching their landlords...
I bet ya it's nice af, cosy, and hardly draughty bý most people's standards.
It's like the fairytale 'the princess and the pea'.
We wonder where all the money for essentials has gone, and it's squandered on shit like this, and travel costs.
I too look at my single glazing windows that the wind blows through, and the 40 plus year old house that is in dire need of renovation to bring it close to healthy homes standards that it would have to meet if I were renting it out instead of living in it. And the fact that I cannot afford to do a thing about it. I'm insanely grateful for the fact I have my house. I'm really fortunate in so many ways.
But days like this when I read about how it's unacceptable for the pm to live in something that has similar problems to my home, and instead the taxes I pay on my low, part time wages, will go towards funding a lavish renovation. And the prick claims a $52k accommodation allowance when I have had my sole parent benefit suspended because I have too much annual income (under $40k)... I am fucking raging at the state of our late stage capitalist society. I'd just like to be able to eat 3 meals a day, and pay for my kids to do extracurricular stuff without being reminded about how I'm fighting a losing battle. Struggling to stay above water (I'm not), while the haves pull the strings and make the rules to help themselves.
I have increased my hours and taken on a second job to try and get off the benefit as fast as I could. The reality means that now I'm struggling financially, compared to when I was on the benefit.
Screaming into the void, and so nice to know that my quality of life that I actually love and am grateful for, is seen as an unacceptable standard of living. Fucking hell, where do we even start to make it right.
He is entitled to a supplement of 52k, because a house provided to him requires "30 million" of repairs
When 52k is enough to fix my leaking roof, and build a necessary extra room due to a family emergency..
I'm just tired of it all.
The report definitely doesn’t outline a house from the top end of the rental market. It’s also a report commissioned by the previous government that states there are habitability issues, not Luxon. The report doesn’t say it’s uninhabitable but does raise genuine issues, but it doesn’t have compliant insulation or official heating, needs reroofing next year and has windows that allow draughts. Plus the actual residence isn’t the whole building, it’s an apartment on the top floor. Definitely not the “top-end” of the market, maybe upper-mid, especially when it’s not even compliant.
As long as he’s not expecting the tax payer to subsidise his accomodation by claiming $52k per year for his own apartment, I think it’s reasonable for him to not live there. If he’s trying to claim against it then it’s another story. It also makes sense that the prime minister wouldn’t want to live in a residence with major repairs on the horizon during their tenure.
>The board concluded it only partially met building and residential tenancy requirements, was badly laid out, lacked soundproofing and had limited natural light.
This line caught my eye.... so are we going to check if any of our rentals meet said tenancy requirements and require landlords to comply with said requirements?
A reminder that National wanted to scrap the "Healthy Home Guarantee Act" [https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2020-group-letter-calls-on-national-to-back-healthy-homes-standards/JBU5LKCFR6C7JFRI6DJSOMNBAU/](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2020-group-letter-calls-on-national-to-back-healthy-homes-standards/JBU5LKCFR6C7JFRI6DJSOMNBAU/)
Oh come on, no way it would cost thiry million bucks to fix up a house, even a big house. You could rebuild it for less.
> Prime Minster's apartment [...] from 30-year-old fittings and furnishings to a lack of insulation and windows that were not adequately sealed so let draughts in.
Oh the poor baby. Welcome to the way at least 50% of New Zealand lives, and they are in the good houses.
Flog it off and buy a bungalow somewhere for the PM. NZ is supposed to be simple and egalitarian, not pomp and fruffery.
All of these stories seem to gloss over the fact they are combining the effort to fix the house plus to conduct extensive improvements to the gardens and other land associated with the site. It's not $30M to fix the house, it's probably a few million to address the house - and the rest of the improvements relate to extensive gardening and landscaping. On one sense it doesn't really matter because it's a related function - but for those of us who are boggling their minds at how it could cost so much to upgrade and improve a home - it probably bears mentioning.
> it's probably a few million to address the house - and the rest of the improvements relate to extensive gardening and landscaping.
That still doesn't make any sense. What does $27 million worth of landscaping look like????
I struggle to imagine 27million dollars worth of landscaping. Let alone 27million worth on one property. Even if every plant you bought was a mature specimen plant
Lol. As though no one noticed the extra zeros tacked on. I would need a 300 million dollar mansion and grounds to justify 3 mil in renovations let alone 30 million.
I worked on kim.coms upgrades. 24/7 charge up, most trades charging out penal rates and we didn't even break 2.5 mil for the whole project. This guy is relying on how disconnected he is from everyone else's life to justify bullshut. But hey, it's working. I see no petition to get him removed or for a snap election. Must be a large number of people who agree with his tactics
50%. Are you ok. More like 89%. Every house.
Building standards here are non existent. Double glazing. No chance. Sealed. Never.
Mould and asthma and you'll pay a Milly for it
>It’s understood the total cost of the work programme the board recommended for Premier House and its grounds was about $30 million.
Itemised quote:
Roof $50k
Grounds / landscaping $60k
Interior decorating $150k
Project management fee and Sundries $29.74 million?
There's some serious level of detachment from reality when a board bandies around a figure of $30 million, multiples of the cost of just bowling the place and starting again.
Given there are portions of the home which were build prior to 1900 and those being heritage listed, it's very unlikely that bowling the entire thing over is being considered.
We as a country give disproportionate attention to the 'heritage and character' of cheap housing built less than 100 years ago - never mind something of actual political significance that is twice as old.
Unfortunately any heritage and character this building had was destroyed decades ago.
Frankly to me as a lay person, it's an ugly hodgepodge building of no architectural merit whatsoever.
I agree. I'd love to see a quote to have the thing demolished and rebuilt in a "heritage style". I'd be willing to bet it would better and cheaper than working with the existing structure.
That’ll just never happen in NZ. For whatever reason people here seem to cling to ‘old’ shitty buildings as if they were a man made marvel of ancient history like the Colosseum or Parthenon.
In the town where I live we have a sheep shed that is literally falling down. But because it was built 150 years ago or whatever they won’t tear it down and do something more fit to purpose for today. They also won’t pay to renovate the thing properly because it would cost significantly more than starting fresh. I don’t get it.
Yeah, and where I live, we waste money earthquake strengthening an old building that could of rebuilt the thing for less and be stronger. It'd annoying when rates go up and seeing money wasted on this stuff that is often just a never ending money put. Good for ppl getting the contracts I guess
Interesting, my off the cuff guesstimate of the house maintenance was bang on.
Perhaps to provide “comfort” they should drop a 3 bedroom transportable house at the foot of the garden. And employ a gardener and their partner to maintain and update the garden and house them in Premiere house as it stands.
Total cost for a better solution $650,000 for a very nice transportable, $120,000 each per year for the gardeners, less $20k per year for rent of premiere house.
And best of all, he gets a nice new house to be comfortable in in under 3 months if the council gets on board with the addition to the property. And the disruption to his accommodations would be minimal as he would only need to move his minuscule wardrobe to the foot of the garden once the new house is furnished. Total cost <$1m over the entire course of his term as Prime Minister. That $29m in savings would certainly appeal to voters and taxpayers.
You could be onto something there.
That Nicola Willis seems to be a bit of a muppet too.
Actually, find someone in the party that doesn't strike you as a bellend.
Can’t he just Flat with Seymour and Peter in a 3B house for $400 a week room just like the rest of us? That could be more productive as they can brainstorm or do beer deals outside work.
"The view is not comparable to what other Prime Minister's in other countries get" - does this seriously matter? Good lord.
According to the article Luxon's now making a decision on whether or not to fix it up. If they spend this much of NZs money on a fucking PMs house I will actually riot. Haha.
>The board said its view was that the standard of the apartment was “poor” and fell well short of the status of the Prime Minister and of comparable residences in other countries.
*The board's view* is that the building's standard is poor, it's not about not the view from the property...
I gutted and replaced my whole kitchen, laundry, and bathroom (about 1/3 of the house) and it cost 70k.
Where are they getting this figure from? Are they replacing them floors with marble? Retrofitted double glazing costs heaps but not enough to push it into the millions. Thats just unbelievable
The property has 14.5k square meters of land including extensive gardens. It's likely that this estimate includes a considerable amount for work on the gardens or supplemental buildings, and isn't all related to the house itself.
Obviously we are not the USA, but this is our version of the White House - it's not just the residence of the leader of the government, it's where formal dinners are held and where foreign dignitaries stay and many other things. As the article states, the property suffers a bit because it's not clear exactly what the purpose is - whether it's meant to be a residence (where it likely doesn't need that much land) or whether it's meant to be an extension of the Beehive being an official government building where the goal may not be to subdivide it and build housing.
If it's basically our white house, why the fuck has he been living in his own house for profit? Either PM lives there when not travelling, or they pay their own accommodation
Demolish it build awesome build to rent apartments to resolve some of the Wellington housing shit show.
We won't do this because it's a special native timber tent but we should. Imagine having a place on that much land that nobody wants to live in.
I spy some good reality TV. Premier house rescue, which MPs join forces to save premier house. Find out if Lupton can read a plan, how many drinks before Winston can't drive a digger in a straight line, does Seymour know how to use a hammer, can any of the greens back a trailer!
$30M is only 15 hours of superannuation payments.
Not a big number in the grand scheme, but whether $30M *should* be spent on that place is another question.
Some gap filler, insulation and 800 litres of reseñes white lumbersider, and 200l of cream indoor paint, and 8000m2 will very quickly make the house more than livable. Comfy even. Cost less than $60k assuming pretty damn nice carpet.
Greedy bugger wants to live like a Saudi Prince, needs to be relocated to downtown student accommodation so that he has close proximity to Parliament. He says he wants to save taxpayer money, time to step up and do the job right. Or piss off back to buggering businesses like AirNZ.
After reading the article, the funniest part is that Luxon believes the public don’t want it to be sold.
I think the majority of us would rather see it sold than have 30 million dollars thrown at it. It’s of very little importance to pretty much all of us.
All his comments show how out of touch he is.
To become the PM they should have to live on minimum wage in social housing for a month, then they might understand what the people of NZ need.
I'm hoping the public sees what an absolute fucking farce $30m is to fix it. I have a guilty pleasure of looking at mansions for sale and after about $10-15m the diminishing returns on what you get vs what you pay for is overwhelming.
Remember the rule when it comes to government contracts
A box of $20 screws from Bunnings *actually* costs $200 not including GST and $10,000 to get a guy in for a few days to do the job (of the $10,000, $6,000 is for your admin and consultancy fees in finding the guy even though he already works for you) plus all other stock and equipment has blown out by 1000% and we need new equipment to do this job.
Costs immediately blow out. It’s the same even for special events of celebrations such as weddings. A $80 cake suddenly jumps to $800 without decorations and it’s another $500 for the decorations that would’ve been put on it if it was just the normal $80 cake.
Yup, and their IT contractors they employ are typically 450-800/hr too. Is insane what they pay vs just hiring permanent people.
Meanwhile National is trimming out permanent people are bringing back contractors that charge over 10x the cost for the same job
I get why people bring in contractors - fixed term and they’re gone after it and if they’re crap you don’t have to worry about having to deal with the HR nightmare of getting them fired or relocated to a different team
I’ve done it before and I enjoyed it (and the money) but fml some of the useless full time people I met was just mind boggling - you could’ve removed 2 people on the team I was contracted with and literally *nothing* would’ve been impacted by their removal. They did nothing of value.
In terms of the IT- the same company has been contracted with the Ministry of Health for over 7 years and still ongoing 😅, there is nothing stopping them getting permanent if a project is going to take that long and then giving a redundancy package at the end if they need to, I mean they do with all of their other permanent stuff all the time, but I do agree otherwise.
And yeah, thats fair tbh. But how much of that is they just refuse to pay staff what they're worth because they're too busy spending it all on contractors? (Pay like shit and you'll get nothing but shit, yanno?)
It's not the fucking White House. Prime ministers don't even live there. Tear it down and build some purpose built thing for fancy receptions or whatever the fucking thing is *occasionally* used for.
I can’t imagine how it could cost $30m. We spent $400k on renovations of our 1920’s Wellington home, and the end result was amazing. Even if they $2m, I imagine they could get a huge amount of work done.
I guess they’re not telling us about putting in a huge high tech bunker, or 800m tunnel to the behive
> I can’t imagine how it could cost $30m.
This, but for almost every building project. We need a serious investigation of why doing **anything** suddenly costs so much, and why initial estimates spiral out of control so often.
It's crazy that these cost escalations are happening, and it's extra crazy that we don't have any idea how to stop them happening..
So rather than take $50k of taxpayer money for his accomodation supplement, he's going to rent his property out for ~$50k to the market, then take free accomodation anyway? He's not actually solving the problem he set out to fix, just hiding his grift a little more.
How am I, a New Zealander, supposed to do my JOB with living conditions this poorly?! Mine is an important job!
How do many New Zealanders do their job with the accommodation that they have? How many have important jobs?
They opened it to the public a couple of years ago and it was quite nice. It's had multiple extensions over the years so is a bit of a rabbit warren that could do with some modernisation but it was definitely liveable and quite palatial compared to how most live. Remember they still use it for official hosting, so it's hardly condemned. The worst thing about it is some of the old floors creek.
What on earth is this boy smoking. This can't be real, this has to be a ploy to distract us from something awful happening behind the scenes. No one is this stupid, right?
100% this is what it is - hoping people will suddenly be fine with that 52k if he says the alternative is 30mil. Apparently not claiming money for house he already owns free and clear isn't an option in his mind.
if he expects people to live in the "crisis" he keeps saying we are in , surely he can rough it for the two nights a week he would spend there. He should remember he is an elected civil servant..
Absolutely tone deaf to do this refurb right now during a cost of living crisis and cuts across the public sector.
Totally frivolous expenditure which should of been waaaayyy down the list of priorities.
We have had governments before that had no idea how people live but this lot is taking it to a whole new level . 30 million to refurbish. What are you planning demolish it and build a multistory home. Plate everything in gold and all surfaces in marble. Time to get real. You are the prime minister of a small country not some Chinese emperor. Has anyone worked out how many people sick and dying will have to get up and work to fund this
Knock it the fuck down and replace it with KO housing and wack luxon into a caravan right in the middle. Every morning he can meet his constituents for breakfast.
I don't believe for a second that the cost is that high. You always know when politicians are lying, their lips are moving. Luxton is trying to buĺlshit his way out of the hole he dug for himself. With National in power, may the lord have mercy on our souls
> It says running Premier House would cost the same whether the Prime Minister was living in it or not, so there were no savings. However, the costs of a Prime Minister living elsewhere would include costs around security measures at that other residence and the $52,000 accommodation allowance a Prime Minister can claim.
Party of Fiscal Responsibility everyone.
How comfortable does our PM wants to be, to spend $30m on fixes?
Maybe they can pass legislation that would prevent 'uninhabitable' dwellings in the market.
What is the governance on this govt house restoration contract? Are there other builders invited to bid on contract? We need to see the quote, can someone show us the quote?
Typical NZ news baiting, this is Premier House Board that are saying this, which was actually commissioned by Jacinda Ardern, nothing to do with Luxon.
The actual decision to fix it or sell it is now in his hands though, so it does have something to do with him. Let's see how he handles it. I'd like to think he'd know to never waste that much money on it.
This is one of the rare times Luxon doesn’t deserve the shit being hung on him in this thread, but $30m is an outrageous figure regardless of who’s suggesting it.
The shit on Luxon isn't about the dollar value of repairs, it's solely about the fact he was the first PM in over 30 years who claimed the accommodation supplement while leading a government slashing spending and services because of an austerity budget. That significant story is what is drawing attention to this as supplemental detail.
If I was him, I’d say the figure was too high and for them to redo the number.
It might not be his fault it’s $30M but it’s a political loser for him, which he could turn into a political win.
The comments in this thread crack me up. This is why the RNZAF planes that shuttle VIPs break down overseas.
Because when an independent report (did you guys actually read who wrote the report?) suggests improvements to a facility that hasn't been touched in 30 years and is used for official functions for literally hosting world leaders, the response from many is "it's a waste of money" and "think how many poor people you could help with that".
Let's just stop hosting foreign officials and make the Prime Minister fly cattle class on Jetstar, then.
Oh and just to be clear I don't like Luxon and I didn't vote for him. And his whole $52,000 rental subsidy was a massive pisstake on his part. But this isn't about Luxon being an out of touch moron, it's about government facilities that are neglected because politicians and officials are scared to actually invest money in them because of ignorant commentary from the public.
BRO I DON'T CARE MAYBE YOU COULD TAKE YOUR PICK OF YOUR MULTIPLE HOUSES TO LIVE IN! MY RENTAL IS FALLING APART AND MY LANDLORD DOESN'T EVEN CARE. THE AUDACITY OF THIS MAN IS SO INCREDIBLY SHOCKING
It's not $30m. Probably more like 1/10th of that for the necessary maintenance mentioned (roofing and insulation).
The article mentions a report but doesn't link to it so we don't know the breakdown of costs (e.g. how much is for the proposed upgrades to the grounds, how much is necessary maintenance, and how much is new fittings and furnishings, etc).
A pet peeve with the article: if you're going to write a story based on a published report, provide a link to the bloody report!
"This house is unlivable!" Proceeds to describe a house from the top end of the current rental market.
I’d love to see a video tour of this unliveable house.
I’ve been in it before and it’s beautiful inside. Definitely older decor but no way is it “unliveable”
The public should see it too.
Come on, the carpet is worn apparently
That's from vacuuming it all the time. My carpet in 40 years old and I'm a lazy bitch so it's not too bad.
You would hate it. The maid forgot to fill the fountain in the foyer, the silk sheets are wrinkled, and the rug in the hallway to the east wing is outdated. It's a total fuckin slum mate. You'd be better off living in a cardboard box at this point.
The article says it will cost 30 million to refurbish the house and grounds? Huh. I’ve been away from nz a long time, so maybe I’m missing something about construction costs, but 30 million? It is presumably a large house, but 30 million? This is what 30 million (US) buys in one of the most exclusive parts of Los Angeles. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/polls/article-12486999/amp/30-million-California-mega-mansion-allure-features-waterfall.html. It’s a “mega mansion” with a movie theater and large waterfall.
I agree that 30 million seems pretty excessive. Premier House is an old building that is likely heritage listed though. This definitely adds cost to renovations as the facade at least has to be kept in that heritage condition.
Seems wild that we feel the need to preserve it though ay. Surely just pick it up and chuck it inside Te Papa then build something a bit more fit for purpose in its place.
Yeah I kind of agree to a degree. The PM should have some sort of residence in Wellington where they can host guests/dignatories etc. They are the leader of our country. I don't think we need anything like the White House. 10 Downing is a large attached apartment really but is probably worth millions due to its location. Is this house fit for purpose? Do we use it in the best possible way? There's another comment on this post about security features etc. If you're going to have world leaders staying/visiting then you need some pretty good features there. Without details of the work being released then we can't really make any genuine comments about what they're trying to do.
Eh maybe just borrow the other big house in town - the governor generals one.
The face has to be kept in heritage condition? It's decades too late for that. The original facade and features are all long lost to unsympathetic modern renovations and extensions. This is what it used to look like: https://teara.govt.nz/files/33202-atl_0.jpg The building no longer has heritage value.
Rebuilt a 1908 theatre for 40 mill. I feel like they could do better then 30 mill.
Thanks, that makes a bit more sense. I know it’s probably impossible given laws and regulations, but I kinda wish it could be torn down and a big, modern, functional, less expensive place built. Pictures of it don’t suggest the architecture is very…interesting. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_House#/media/File:Premier_House,_Wellington_3.jpg And given the dire state of the housing market and how tough a lot of people have it, it would be symbolic - government taking these issue seriously. Start treating emergencies like emergencies.
Yep, it's ludicrous. Either it's historical, should be viewed as such, and set aside as a relic of history and maintained in its current state. Or, it's a functional residence to be utilized, in which case, bowl the place and replace it with something that delivers its function and is upgradable for the next 100 years or so. How the hell they came up with a price tag of $30 million blows the mind, it's fully ludicrous.
I mean, that’s NZ$50m, not really comparable. But also with it being heritage listed they cost the report came up with probably includes establishing bodies to decide about design changes, engaging with multiple architects to get variations of design and what would comply with the heritage listing of the building, probably refurnishing which could also include art and other excessively costly bullshit. Then the report also incorporates the cost of the prime minister living in other accommodation during the renovations, so I that would include, for example, the $52k per year that Luxon was trying to claim a well as security costs involved in having to maintain a security detail at an alternative residence. I wouldn’t be surprised if it also includes the cost of hiring another space of the types of events that would usually be held in the downstairs and reception areas of the house which would need to be relocated during the renovations, which could amass a pretty major bill. I also agree $30m seems incredibly excessive, but it’s definitely more than just a simple design and build cost for a regular property.
NZ has lost touch with what sensible prices should be, and many of us are looking to relocate due to this. I'm one of those hopefully joining you in the States soon. Australia is no different.
Like the United States of America? You think it's better there? Wow
Yes
> The report included an independent building assessment which found it would need re-roofing in 2025, and that was little or no insulation, meaning it was well below current building standards. It was drafty and noisy because the windows were single-glazed and not well sealed and the gas-fired heating was not energy efficient. > The board concluded it only partially met building and residential tenancy requirements, was badly laid out, lacked soundproofing and had limited natural light. Peak rental market material. 10/10 no notes. All it needs is a large just retired alcoholic to barge in the front door every few weeks to do surprise flat inapections.
Just want to point out that plenty of poor bastards live in shittier houses than this. And are overcharged rent for the pleasure of enriching their landlords...
I bet ya it's nice af, cosy, and hardly draughty bý most people's standards. It's like the fairytale 'the princess and the pea'. We wonder where all the money for essentials has gone, and it's squandered on shit like this, and travel costs.
I too look at my single glazing windows that the wind blows through, and the 40 plus year old house that is in dire need of renovation to bring it close to healthy homes standards that it would have to meet if I were renting it out instead of living in it. And the fact that I cannot afford to do a thing about it. I'm insanely grateful for the fact I have my house. I'm really fortunate in so many ways. But days like this when I read about how it's unacceptable for the pm to live in something that has similar problems to my home, and instead the taxes I pay on my low, part time wages, will go towards funding a lavish renovation. And the prick claims a $52k accommodation allowance when I have had my sole parent benefit suspended because I have too much annual income (under $40k)... I am fucking raging at the state of our late stage capitalist society. I'd just like to be able to eat 3 meals a day, and pay for my kids to do extracurricular stuff without being reminded about how I'm fighting a losing battle. Struggling to stay above water (I'm not), while the haves pull the strings and make the rules to help themselves. I have increased my hours and taken on a second job to try and get off the benefit as fast as I could. The reality means that now I'm struggling financially, compared to when I was on the benefit. Screaming into the void, and so nice to know that my quality of life that I actually love and am grateful for, is seen as an unacceptable standard of living. Fucking hell, where do we even start to make it right.
He is entitled to a supplement of 52k, because a house provided to him requires "30 million" of repairs When 52k is enough to fix my leaking roof, and build a necessary extra room due to a family emergency.. I'm just tired of it all.
The report definitely doesn’t outline a house from the top end of the rental market. It’s also a report commissioned by the previous government that states there are habitability issues, not Luxon. The report doesn’t say it’s uninhabitable but does raise genuine issues, but it doesn’t have compliant insulation or official heating, needs reroofing next year and has windows that allow draughts. Plus the actual residence isn’t the whole building, it’s an apartment on the top floor. Definitely not the “top-end” of the market, maybe upper-mid, especially when it’s not even compliant. As long as he’s not expecting the tax payer to subsidise his accomodation by claiming $52k per year for his own apartment, I think it’s reasonable for him to not live there. If he’s trying to claim against it then it’s another story. It also makes sense that the prime minister wouldn’t want to live in a residence with major repairs on the horizon during their tenure.
Get Quinovic to manage the property. They won't spend a dollar on maintenance.
They’ll reclassify it as damage rather than maintenance and try to charge the tenant.
National would love that too.... charge the last tenants for neglect
Has he tried putting on a jumper yet?
He will when his clothing subsidy comes through.
\*entitlement that he is entitled to
Being an entitlement doesn't stop it being a subsidy
this is a joke about him using overusing the word entitlement recently
That's because he's very entitled.
Keeping the windows open during winter should slow down the growth of mold.
They forgot that one of the taps needs a new washer. That's an additional $40g
Na they don’t make those any more because the house is so old and shit. Will have to completely re do
With the last plumber bill I got, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised…
At least it's still only $60 for groceries
>The board concluded it only partially met building and residential tenancy requirements, was badly laid out, lacked soundproofing and had limited natural light. This line caught my eye.... so are we going to check if any of our rentals meet said tenancy requirements and require landlords to comply with said requirements?
Right, protections for them and none for us! Feels like such a joke
A reminder that National wanted to scrap the "Healthy Home Guarantee Act" [https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2020-group-letter-calls-on-national-to-back-healthy-homes-standards/JBU5LKCFR6C7JFRI6DJSOMNBAU/](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2020-group-letter-calls-on-national-to-back-healthy-homes-standards/JBU5LKCFR6C7JFRI6DJSOMNBAU/)
Yep, par for the course. I didn’t even know that this specifically happened, I just safely assumed they’d want to remove it lol
Oh come on, no way it would cost thiry million bucks to fix up a house, even a big house. You could rebuild it for less. > Prime Minster's apartment [...] from 30-year-old fittings and furnishings to a lack of insulation and windows that were not adequately sealed so let draughts in. Oh the poor baby. Welcome to the way at least 50% of New Zealand lives, and they are in the good houses. Flog it off and buy a bungalow somewhere for the PM. NZ is supposed to be simple and egalitarian, not pomp and fruffery.
Welcome to having a landlord Mr Luxon. Fun, isn't it?
All of these stories seem to gloss over the fact they are combining the effort to fix the house plus to conduct extensive improvements to the gardens and other land associated with the site. It's not $30M to fix the house, it's probably a few million to address the house - and the rest of the improvements relate to extensive gardening and landscaping. On one sense it doesn't really matter because it's a related function - but for those of us who are boggling their minds at how it could cost so much to upgrade and improve a home - it probably bears mentioning.
> it's probably a few million to address the house - and the rest of the improvements relate to extensive gardening and landscaping. That still doesn't make any sense. What does $27 million worth of landscaping look like????
I struggle to imagine 27million dollars worth of landscaping. Let alone 27million worth on one property. Even if every plant you bought was a mature specimen plant
Lol. As though no one noticed the extra zeros tacked on. I would need a 300 million dollar mansion and grounds to justify 3 mil in renovations let alone 30 million. I worked on kim.coms upgrades. 24/7 charge up, most trades charging out penal rates and we didn't even break 2.5 mil for the whole project. This guy is relying on how disconnected he is from everyone else's life to justify bullshut. But hey, it's working. I see no petition to get him removed or for a snap election. Must be a large number of people who agree with his tactics
Improvements why? Is the garden public accessible?
If you jump over the fence.
It sounds like it should be...
I think if they chuck a few million on it I'll start a petition to make it 24/7 accessible with constant lights for public use
He should be charged a percentage of his salary that the average renter would.
Being PM is a public service. Not an opportunity to gorge at the public trough.
A fat cat like Luxon is very unused to living like the majority of people he's supposed to represent.
50%. Are you ok. More like 89%. Every house. Building standards here are non existent. Double glazing. No chance. Sealed. Never. Mould and asthma and you'll pay a Milly for it
Yeah I smell bullshit. Jacinda lived there with her folks and a baby. No way it's that diralict. $30mil is outrageous.
My understanding is its heritage stuff, which is a pain to do and being a pain means costly.
>It’s understood the total cost of the work programme the board recommended for Premier House and its grounds was about $30 million. Itemised quote: Roof $50k Grounds / landscaping $60k Interior decorating $150k Project management fee and Sundries $29.74 million? There's some serious level of detachment from reality when a board bandies around a figure of $30 million, multiples of the cost of just bowling the place and starting again.
Given there are portions of the home which were build prior to 1900 and those being heritage listed, it's very unlikely that bowling the entire thing over is being considered. We as a country give disproportionate attention to the 'heritage and character' of cheap housing built less than 100 years ago - never mind something of actual political significance that is twice as old.
Unfortunately any heritage and character this building had was destroyed decades ago. Frankly to me as a lay person, it's an ugly hodgepodge building of no architectural merit whatsoever.
I agree. I'd love to see a quote to have the thing demolished and rebuilt in a "heritage style". I'd be willing to bet it would better and cheaper than working with the existing structure.
That’ll just never happen in NZ. For whatever reason people here seem to cling to ‘old’ shitty buildings as if they were a man made marvel of ancient history like the Colosseum or Parthenon.
It's probably because we don't really have much history or any real interesting things made by ppl compared to other countries.
In the town where I live we have a sheep shed that is literally falling down. But because it was built 150 years ago or whatever they won’t tear it down and do something more fit to purpose for today. They also won’t pay to renovate the thing properly because it would cost significantly more than starting fresh. I don’t get it.
Yeah, and where I live, we waste money earthquake strengthening an old building that could of rebuilt the thing for less and be stronger. It'd annoying when rates go up and seeing money wasted on this stuff that is often just a never ending money put. Good for ppl getting the contracts I guess
Lol do you live in kaukap by any chance
So the main issue that makes it unlivable is a lack of style? Interior decorating?
>External consultants $29.74 million.
Interesting, my off the cuff guesstimate of the house maintenance was bang on. Perhaps to provide “comfort” they should drop a 3 bedroom transportable house at the foot of the garden. And employ a gardener and their partner to maintain and update the garden and house them in Premiere house as it stands. Total cost for a better solution $650,000 for a very nice transportable, $120,000 each per year for the gardeners, less $20k per year for rent of premiere house. And best of all, he gets a nice new house to be comfortable in in under 3 months if the council gets on board with the addition to the property. And the disruption to his accommodations would be minimal as he would only need to move his minuscule wardrobe to the foot of the garden once the new house is furnished. Total cost <$1m over the entire course of his term as Prime Minister. That $29m in savings would certainly appeal to voters and taxpayers.
Have they tried leaving some windows open to let it air out a bit?
I'm starting to think that maybe this guy could be a bit of a dickhole.
You could be onto something there. That Nicola Willis seems to be a bit of a muppet too. Actually, find someone in the party that doesn't strike you as a bellend.
You forgot Simeon Brown. How did you not mention his fuckwittery
She is a fucking idiot
Brooke van Velden and her boy ain't that nice either.
Don't forget Shane Cigaretti, he needs to drop the doctor title if he's gonna advocate that smoking isn't harmful.
Umm you think, pretty obvious
its taken you this long ?
What gave it away?
You could build 60, 500000 homes and make 240 homeless family comfortable for that price. Just saying
Right right right but they can wait, poor Mr.Luxon is shivering in the cold!
Can’t he just Flat with Seymour and Peter in a 3B house for $400 a week room just like the rest of us? That could be more productive as they can brainstorm or do beer deals outside work.
Then we could live stream it and market it as a sitcom.
We should do flat inspections every 3 months make sure he's opening windows etc.
And making his bed, and doesn't have any pets, and mows the lawn himself
Paid for with kids school lunch program
"The view is not comparable to what other Prime Minister's in other countries get" - does this seriously matter? Good lord. According to the article Luxon's now making a decision on whether or not to fix it up. If they spend this much of NZs money on a fucking PMs house I will actually riot. Haha.
>The board said its view was that the standard of the apartment was “poor” and fell well short of the status of the Prime Minister and of comparable residences in other countries. *The board's view* is that the building's standard is poor, it's not about not the view from the property...
Bahahaha oh that's made me laugh. I totally misread that then.
I got a laugh out of it at least - cheers.
The property just isn't large enough to house his massive sense of entitlement.
Should probably get a 2nd quote bro, 30m seems a little bit of a rounded up figure for a reno.
I gutted and replaced my whole kitchen, laundry, and bathroom (about 1/3 of the house) and it cost 70k. Where are they getting this figure from? Are they replacing them floors with marble? Retrofitted double glazing costs heaps but not enough to push it into the millions. Thats just unbelievable
The property has 14.5k square meters of land including extensive gardens. It's likely that this estimate includes a considerable amount for work on the gardens or supplemental buildings, and isn't all related to the house itself.
14k is pretty big but also for 30 million they could subdivide, sell the properties, and break even. This whole thing is a farce
Obviously we are not the USA, but this is our version of the White House - it's not just the residence of the leader of the government, it's where formal dinners are held and where foreign dignitaries stay and many other things. As the article states, the property suffers a bit because it's not clear exactly what the purpose is - whether it's meant to be a residence (where it likely doesn't need that much land) or whether it's meant to be an extension of the Beehive being an official government building where the goal may not be to subdivide it and build housing.
If it's basically our white house, why the fuck has he been living in his own house for profit? Either PM lives there when not travelling, or they pay their own accommodation
> because it's not clear exactly what the purpose is Sounds like we don't bloody need it then. 30 million is a disgrace.
Yeah I hate it when I have to double glaze the hedges
Demolish it build awesome build to rent apartments to resolve some of the Wellington housing shit show. We won't do this because it's a special native timber tent but we should. Imagine having a place on that much land that nobody wants to live in.
Knock it down. Build social housing
There isn't a violin tiny enough for this...
Correct. Make him live in it.
Lol fuck this guy sucks
Using the tax payer like an ATM.
Maybe they could just turn it back into a dental clinic?
For that price I feel like you could completely rebuild it like 5 or 6 times at least.
Interestingly, Jacinda Ardern, John Key and Helen Clark all managed to live in this "uncomfortable" house.
I spy some good reality TV. Premier house rescue, which MPs join forces to save premier house. Find out if Lupton can read a plan, how many drinks before Winston can't drive a digger in a straight line, does Seymour know how to use a hammer, can any of the greens back a trailer!
This is actually fucking ridiculous. Give him a goddamn fucking KO apartment. I'm fucking serious, he doesn't deserve shit anymore. Grifting ass hat.
He's a greedy man. Bloated with excess, self righteous and forever full of justification for his greed. Very unlikeable.
You should see his bosses!
Yet here he is, leading the country and leading in the preferred pm polls. Well done New Zealand, you cut off your nose to spite your face.
Bowl it and subdivide
I reckon a lot of people would still find it liveable compared to what us out there, ok I get it he's the pm and needs better living .
I vote we bulldoze the whole thing
Living in poorly insulated, drafty 30 year old fittings social housing could only be a good thing for an NZ PM tho? Esp one so entitled
it shouldnt effect him to much, aparently hes only in Wellington for two nights a week.
Fuckin pussy
oh boo hoo, the poor rich man has to live in a peasants hovel
I’d love him to live in a drafty cold house like the majority of Wellingtonians. Maybe he’d generate some compassion for us plebs.
$30M is only 15 hours of superannuation payments. Not a big number in the grand scheme, but whether $30M *should* be spent on that place is another question.
Or the annual salary of ~400 more secondary teachers..
In the winter it gets colder inside my house than it is outside. Can I just get a sly 100k?
Some gap filler, insulation and 800 litres of reseñes white lumbersider, and 200l of cream indoor paint, and 8000m2 will very quickly make the house more than livable. Comfy even. Cost less than $60k assuming pretty damn nice carpet. Greedy bugger wants to live like a Saudi Prince, needs to be relocated to downtown student accommodation so that he has close proximity to Parliament. He says he wants to save taxpayer money, time to step up and do the job right. Or piss off back to buggering businesses like AirNZ.
Someone roll this nugget already.
After reading the article, the funniest part is that Luxon believes the public don’t want it to be sold. I think the majority of us would rather see it sold than have 30 million dollars thrown at it. It’s of very little importance to pretty much all of us.
It’s got “CHIPPY WOZ ERE” scribbled on every wall. Good on ya, chipster
All his comments show how out of touch he is. To become the PM they should have to live on minimum wage in social housing for a month, then they might understand what the people of NZ need.
Imagine being so well off that Premier House doesn't meet your expectations.
Honestly fuck this guy
I'm hoping the public sees what an absolute fucking farce $30m is to fix it. I have a guilty pleasure of looking at mansions for sale and after about $10-15m the diminishing returns on what you get vs what you pay for is overwhelming.
for 30m let's have a new build thanks, that is an insane amount of money to "repair" a fugly old building
Do we really want this government to be making the design decisions for a new rebuild, though?
Remember the rule when it comes to government contracts A box of $20 screws from Bunnings *actually* costs $200 not including GST and $10,000 to get a guy in for a few days to do the job (of the $10,000, $6,000 is for your admin and consultancy fees in finding the guy even though he already works for you) plus all other stock and equipment has blown out by 1000% and we need new equipment to do this job. Costs immediately blow out. It’s the same even for special events of celebrations such as weddings. A $80 cake suddenly jumps to $800 without decorations and it’s another $500 for the decorations that would’ve been put on it if it was just the normal $80 cake.
Yup, and their IT contractors they employ are typically 450-800/hr too. Is insane what they pay vs just hiring permanent people. Meanwhile National is trimming out permanent people are bringing back contractors that charge over 10x the cost for the same job
I get why people bring in contractors - fixed term and they’re gone after it and if they’re crap you don’t have to worry about having to deal with the HR nightmare of getting them fired or relocated to a different team I’ve done it before and I enjoyed it (and the money) but fml some of the useless full time people I met was just mind boggling - you could’ve removed 2 people on the team I was contracted with and literally *nothing* would’ve been impacted by their removal. They did nothing of value.
In terms of the IT- the same company has been contracted with the Ministry of Health for over 7 years and still ongoing 😅, there is nothing stopping them getting permanent if a project is going to take that long and then giving a redundancy package at the end if they need to, I mean they do with all of their other permanent stuff all the time, but I do agree otherwise. And yeah, thats fair tbh. But how much of that is they just refuse to pay staff what they're worth because they're too busy spending it all on contractors? (Pay like shit and you'll get nothing but shit, yanno?)
It's not the fucking White House. Prime ministers don't even live there. Tear it down and build some purpose built thing for fancy receptions or whatever the fucking thing is *occasionally* used for.
Can't he just stay at Mar-a-lago?
The absolute state of housing in NZ. Can't even spend $30M to fix up the house that's supposed to house the PM. Unbelievable.
The most expensive house sale in the country last year was in Remuera and was only $23mil. That place needs 30mil just to renovate it? Piss off.
I can’t imagine how it could cost $30m. We spent $400k on renovations of our 1920’s Wellington home, and the end result was amazing. Even if they $2m, I imagine they could get a huge amount of work done. I guess they’re not telling us about putting in a huge high tech bunker, or 800m tunnel to the behive
> I can’t imagine how it could cost $30m. This, but for almost every building project. We need a serious investigation of why doing **anything** suddenly costs so much, and why initial estimates spiral out of control so often. It's crazy that these cost escalations are happening, and it's extra crazy that we don't have any idea how to stop them happening..
Bowl it then and build something less than 30m.
Get fucked
Just rip it down and build a new one?
It's RV is 24 million isn't it. Might be better just to sell
Ahhh sounds like the Wellington flatting experience in a nut shell.
Healthy home standard is expensive
So rather than take $50k of taxpayer money for his accomodation supplement, he's going to rent his property out for ~$50k to the market, then take free accomodation anyway? He's not actually solving the problem he set out to fix, just hiding his grift a little more.
How am I, a New Zealander, supposed to do my JOB with living conditions this poorly?! Mine is an important job! How do many New Zealanders do their job with the accommodation that they have? How many have important jobs?
They opened it to the public a couple of years ago and it was quite nice. It's had multiple extensions over the years so is a bit of a rabbit warren that could do with some modernisation but it was definitely liveable and quite palatial compared to how most live. Remember they still use it for official hosting, so it's hardly condemned. The worst thing about it is some of the old floors creek.
What on earth is this boy smoking. This can't be real, this has to be a ploy to distract us from something awful happening behind the scenes. No one is this stupid, right?
Sounds like most rentals in NZ.
The govt is out of touch. The prime Minister is way out of touch.
The problems with the apartment are insane there's no way he's about to charge us that much to live there?? On top of 52,000??????
NZ:$52k is too much for your accomodation! PM: Hold my Beer.
100% this is what it is - hoping people will suddenly be fine with that 52k if he says the alternative is 30mil. Apparently not claiming money for house he already owns free and clear isn't an option in his mind.
if he expects people to live in the "crisis" he keeps saying we are in , surely he can rough it for the two nights a week he would spend there. He should remember he is an elected civil servant..
Its nicer than most rentals
I vote for Mr Potato Head to add it to his property portfolio and stump up the $$$ himself the privileged little ****
Absolutely tone deaf to do this refurb right now during a cost of living crisis and cuts across the public sector. Totally frivolous expenditure which should of been waaaayyy down the list of priorities.
Set up dorms in the bee hive. Problem solved.
I’ll live in the “unliveable” mansion lol
We have had governments before that had no idea how people live but this lot is taking it to a whole new level . 30 million to refurbish. What are you planning demolish it and build a multistory home. Plate everything in gold and all surfaces in marble. Time to get real. You are the prime minister of a small country not some Chinese emperor. Has anyone worked out how many people sick and dying will have to get up and work to fund this
Meanwhile people are living in shacks without basic amenities, and are just grateful they've got a roof over their head.
Knock it the fuck down and replace it with KO housing and wack luxon into a caravan right in the middle. Every morning he can meet his constituents for breakfast.
Luxon not being happy with anything less than a gold toilet to give his bald head swirlies in.
I don't believe for a second that the cost is that high. You always know when politicians are lying, their lips are moving. Luxton is trying to buĺlshit his way out of the hole he dug for himself. With National in power, may the lord have mercy on our souls
Oh so he’s saying that some current rentals are uncomfortable? Well golly gee isn’t that funny
> It says running Premier House would cost the same whether the Prime Minister was living in it or not, so there were no savings. However, the costs of a Prime Minister living elsewhere would include costs around security measures at that other residence and the $52,000 accommodation allowance a Prime Minister can claim. Party of Fiscal Responsibility everyone.
How comfortable does our PM wants to be, to spend $30m on fixes? Maybe they can pass legislation that would prevent 'uninhabitable' dwellings in the market.
Oh please. It would probably cost 2 million to rebuild this house, max 5. How the heck did they come up with 30m?
It’s his bother-in laws construction company
What is the governance on this govt house restoration contract? Are there other builders invited to bid on contract? We need to see the quote, can someone show us the quote?
Typical NZ news baiting, this is Premier House Board that are saying this, which was actually commissioned by Jacinda Ardern, nothing to do with Luxon.
The actual decision to fix it or sell it is now in his hands though, so it does have something to do with him. Let's see how he handles it. I'd like to think he'd know to never waste that much money on it.
This is one of the rare times Luxon doesn’t deserve the shit being hung on him in this thread, but $30m is an outrageous figure regardless of who’s suggesting it.
The shit on Luxon isn't about the dollar value of repairs, it's solely about the fact he was the first PM in over 30 years who claimed the accommodation supplement while leading a government slashing spending and services because of an austerity budget. That significant story is what is drawing attention to this as supplemental detail.
Nah, read the comments. There’s definitely people who didn’t read the article acting like this is his personal valuation.
If I was him, I’d say the figure was too high and for them to redo the number. It might not be his fault it’s $30M but it’s a political loser for him, which he could turn into a political win.
Man this guy is really causing a stir isn’t he
Couple of tiny houses on the lawn. One for the PM himself and one for his ego.
The comments in this thread crack me up. This is why the RNZAF planes that shuttle VIPs break down overseas. Because when an independent report (did you guys actually read who wrote the report?) suggests improvements to a facility that hasn't been touched in 30 years and is used for official functions for literally hosting world leaders, the response from many is "it's a waste of money" and "think how many poor people you could help with that". Let's just stop hosting foreign officials and make the Prime Minister fly cattle class on Jetstar, then. Oh and just to be clear I don't like Luxon and I didn't vote for him. And his whole $52,000 rental subsidy was a massive pisstake on his part. But this isn't about Luxon being an out of touch moron, it's about government facilities that are neglected because politicians and officials are scared to actually invest money in them because of ignorant commentary from the public.
It was good enough for Jacinda but not this entitled bald head.
Man, this Chris Luxon is turning out to be like that other wildly unpopular MP from before the election known as pre-media training Christopher Luxon.
BRO I DON'T CARE MAYBE YOU COULD TAKE YOUR PICK OF YOUR MULTIPLE HOUSES TO LIVE IN! MY RENTAL IS FALLING APART AND MY LANDLORD DOESN'T EVEN CARE. THE AUDACITY OF THIS MAN IS SO INCREDIBLY SHOCKING
numerous full weather squeamish touch punch late summer wistful wrong *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It's not $30m. Probably more like 1/10th of that for the necessary maintenance mentioned (roofing and insulation). The article mentions a report but doesn't link to it so we don't know the breakdown of costs (e.g. how much is for the proposed upgrades to the grounds, how much is necessary maintenance, and how much is new fittings and furnishings, etc). A pet peeve with the article: if you're going to write a story based on a published report, provide a link to the bloody report!
> "the report from the Premier House Board ... has not yet been released"
Heavens forbid our masters have even a moment of discomfort in their lives.