NZCB NEWS —
From the Chief Executive It was great to celebrate our 20th anniversary at the recent Annual General Meeting and NZCB conference & expo held during May in Rotorua. Many thanks to all those members who attended and, in particular, those suppliers from the building industry who once again provided fantastic support to our conference and our members. I hope you all enjoyed it and gained some value and learning along the way. From the feedback surveys we have received to date, the satisfaction and enjoyment levels were again very high for both members and trade exhibitors. We look forward to Christchurch in June 2019!
Work continues on the implementation of our digital promotion strategy, using some new social and digital channels to promote NZCB and our members. The industry continues to move along at a nice pace and although there are the occasional reports that sales demand has softened, a wide section of the NZCB membership continue to have full order books – many through to late 2019. Interest rates continue to be flat, consumer confidence remains relatively buoyant, immigration continues at lower but consistent levels and the housing stock shortage remains – all being key drivers for the continued demand for new housing and housing alterations. Long may it last. KiwiBuild continues to take the housing headlines, as further details on how and when it will be completed are promulgated by Government and Regulators. There are a significant number of challenges ahead for this to become a reality, I am sure. We continue to keep abreast of any developments as they evolve around this central Government initiative.
During June I travelled to the United Kingdom with Derek Larsen from BrokerWeb Risk Services to undertake the annual review of the Halo product, with the underwriting syndicate at Lloyd’s in London. The scheme has now been going for two-and-a-half years and we have come some way since its launch. We are finalising the review as InHouse goes to print but, in general, the underwriters are relatively comfortable on how the scheme is performing. In particular, they are appreciative of the ongoing commitment NZCB has to Halo and the work that is being done to increase uptake and also help offset the risks. In meeting with several other new housing warranty providers, it was obvious that the scheme we have negotiated for our members here in New Zealand is excellent – with many features and benefits available to us that other schemes in the United Kingdom don’t enjoy. It was also interesting to meet similar organisations as ourselves, to find out that they are facing similar issues we have here in New Zealand. These include a strong growth in housing start numbers (215,000 p/a up from 120,000), a Government recognising a shortage of housing stock and wanting to build about another 40% on what they are doing currently, severe shortages of skilled trades – that will be compounded through Brexit and increased compliance, to mention a few! This is coupled with rising housing prices in popular metropolitan locations and the negative impact on affordability and home ownership levels – it all seemed very familiar. There were some good ideas identified and some no doubt we will put into action over the next few months. Work continues on the implementation of our digital promotion strategy, using some new social and digital channels to promote NZCB and our members. We are on schedule to launch this around mid-July. Although it has been some time coming, it is important that we approach this with a clear strategy so as to maximize the effectiveness of the initiative and reduce any risks to our brand that could arise from negative responses in the public arena. Like anything in building a brand, it is a journey, but it’s a great start! ’Til next time…
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Grant Florence Chief Executive
