Housing top concern for New Zealand directors

A global survey of directors has revealed that New Zealand directors rate housing as their biggest current concern.

The report showed that 80% of the directors surveyed ranked housing within their top three issues and described it as a real challenge. Globally, only 34% of directors rated it as one of their top three concerns.

“Housing, poverty, income inequality, and infrastructure are the top four most pressing social and economic worries for New Zealand’s directors,” Institute of Directors of New Zealand chief executive Kirsten Patterson said.

The survey revealed that 67% of the New Zealand directors surveyed were most concerned about poverty and income inequality, compared to 45% of directors overseas.

It also showed that 56% of directors ranked infrastructure as one of their big concerns, whereas overseas, infrastructure investment appears to be less of a concern and was identified by only 34% of surveyed directors.

“Compared to their counterparts overseas, New Zealand directors are less worried about the cost of healthcare, and also less worried about taxation and government spending,” Patterson said. “Interestingly, on business confidence, 51% of New Zealand directors were mostly or very confident about their business or organisation. That’s encouraging.”

The Institute of Directors of New Zealand surveyed 365 New Zealand directors, comprising 17% of the total number of respondents. A total of 2,159 directors from 17 countries participated in the global survey.