Frances Cook

All right, here we go.

Hi, Frances.

I've seen some headlines I'd love an expert take on.

Apparently, the government wants to scrap rules around minimum apartment sizes and things like mandatory balconies.

Does that mean we're about to get a wave of tiny shoebox apartments in New Zealand?

Part of me thinks maybe that's not the worst thing.

If smaller places are cheaper to build and buy, could that actually help people like first home buyers or at least make city living more realistic for people who don't want or can't afford a full house?

But then I also worry, are we just setting ourselves up for poor quality housing that no one actually wants long term?

And would banks even lend on super small apartments?

Would they even hold their values?

where they become the kind of places that people end up getting stuck in.

What do you think?

Is this actually likely to happen or is it more political noise than reality?

Would love your take on whether micro apartments could ease the housing shortage or just create new problems.

A lot in that.

But I think, again, this is one of those where you hear about these small apartments and people immediately do have these huge amount of questions.

It's not really something we've seen heaps of in New Zealand.

So have you seen these reports too?

And what's your take on them?

Yeah, what do we see in terms of what New Zealanders like from a property?