> * My father bought land, then a built a house, slowly and surely with
> the EXCESS income from his wage and scrimping and saving. We
> didn't have the latest trendy shoes, but as an old man my dad had a
> nice house and no debts. The banks have benefitted little from his
> working wage and the benefits have gone to my dad.
>
> * Now people buy houses pre-made. The value adding/wealth goes
> to the building firm (usually a big building firm

Last night there was a 10min TV piece on a sizeable NZ outfit called
Hire A Hubby, who are professional oddjobbers. Their first year they
got 9000 callouts, then 20000, maybe 40000 next year. It seems people
(ie men particularly) don't get stuck in like they used to. As for building
your own home, part of the reason seems to be the amount of red
tape. A professional builder explained that for example there could
be four types of gib board (drywalling ?) to be used in a house and if
you want the guarantee to stand up they have to be installed properly.
Similarly for the floor, the insulation, the roof, the framing etc etc. He
said that building your own is now so fraught with difficulties and
minutiae that people just say the hell with it and pay for it to be done
for them. As for kids, unfortunately handyman tools aren't as sexy as
surfing the web or Playstation and there's a whole generation who
just aren't interested in making things, they'd rather get it out of a box

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