Waikato Business News March/April 2023

8 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, MARCH/APRIL 2023
Debt consolidation
done different
Kiwi start-up Money Sweetspot goes nationwide
Sasha Lockley
Following a successful
soft launch in December,
sustainable lending
start-up Money Sweetspot
has now made its financial
reset debt consolidation
service available to all New
Zealanders.
Debt is a part of life for
almost all New Zealanders. But
for some Kiwi, the debt juggle
can turn into a struggle. When
that happens, debt can drag
families down, causing stress
and seriously hurting quality
of life.
That’s where Money
Sweetspot comes in. Its debt
consolidation loan wraps debts
into one regular payment,
often at a lower interest rate,
and includes rewards for paying
on time and avoiding further
debt.
Since its soft launch, Money
Sweetspot has delivered more
than $1.3 million in financial
resets to Kiwi all over Aotearoa.
At Money Sweetspot’s
recent national launch event in
Kirikiriroa, co-founder Sasha
Lockley said that high demand
proves there’s a real need for
the service:
“We’re not talking people
at the most disadvantaged end
of society… the people we’ve
worked with so far are almost
all ordinary, hard-working
Kiwi, many in pretty good jobs,
who’ve just found that debts
have gotten on top of them.”
“Whilst it’s been great to
help those customers, for every
$1 of loans provided there
were $2.20 of loans that we
were unable to provide as not
all applicants could meet the
lending criteria. The pressure
for whānau around the cost
of living and sheer amount of
debt that some Kiwi have has
meant that we’ve only been
able to approve 40% of the
applications. This means that
many Kiwi are stuck in higher
cost debt struggling to find a
way through.”
“We’ve been called the
Stranger Things of finance,
because most finance companies
want to up-sell and keep
customers, but we are successful
if we lose customers,” Sasha
says. “We’re here to work with
people for a short time, not a
lifetime.”
Earlier this month Money
Sweetspot also announced a
world-first partnership with
global financial wellbeing
platform nudge Global, giving
customers access to nudge’s
financial education resources,
free of charge. This benefits
their customers as by engaging
in the platform they earn
Sweetspot points that can be
redeemed as additional money
off their loan, or money into
their savings account for a
rainy day. In addition, by committing
to their financial reset
and staying on track, their customers
earn rewards to spend
through The Good Registry
with a donation to a charity of
their choice.
We’re here
to work with
people for a
short time,
not a lifetime.
Money Sweetspot’s investors
include the Tindall Foundation,
and its lending capital
is provided by BNZ.
BNZ CEO Dan Huggins
says, “We know there are families
and individuals out there
struggling with the rising cost
of living, who need a hand to
take some of the financial pressure
off. That’s why we’re supporting
Money Sweetspot in
their mission to support New
Zealanders to reset their debt
and feel more in control of
their finances. We believe this
innovative approach will help
create a lasting positive impact
across Aotearoa.
“Supporting Money
Sweetspot is part of our wider
sustainability commitment to
grow the long-term social, cultural,
and financial wellbeing
of New Zealanders, and deliver
$50 million in no or low interest
lending by 2024.
To find out more at
www.moneysweetspot.co.nz/
CONVERSATIONS WITH MIKE NEALE OF
NAI HARCOURTS HAMILTON
Mike Neale, Managing Director, NAI Harcourts Hamilton
Latest Surveys – Industrial
Occupancy Down & Office Up
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
Hamilton 5‐Year Historical Vacancy
The latest Industrial and Office Occupancy
Surveys conducted by CBRE
Research and NAI Harcourts to the
end of December 2022, provides insight
into the local economy and future trends.
Industrial
Monitored industrial building stock
in Hamilton reached 2,058,000sqm, following
56,700sqm of new supply reaching
completion in the twelve months to December
2022.
Overall industrial vacancy increased
from 0.9% at the end of 2021 to 1.2% in
December 2022, representing less than
25,000sqm of physically vacant and available
space, with almost two thirds of this
vacant stock located in Frankton.
The growth in Hamilton’s industrial sector
and continued low vacancy (now four
years running below 2% vacancy) has seen
pressure on rental growth with new building
warehouse rentals growing by some
10% to 15%. Part of the increase is due to
higher land costs, materials and construction
cost increases and in a number of cases
more than one party offering to lease the
same space.
The most noticeable change in vacancy
was recorded in Te Rapa North where
vacancy increased from 0.2% to 1.0% in
the twelve months to December 2022. The
single biggest contributor to this increase
was the completion of a large warehouse at
12-16 Earthmover Crescent, half of which
remained untenanted at the end of 2022.
Although the number of available units
in Frankton fell from 18 to 12, vacancy grew
slightly to 2.3%, as a result of several larger
facilities becoming available.
Vacancy remained stable at 1.5% at the
Airport Precinct, representing only 3 available
units.
The most significant new completion
in 2022 was the 7,050sqm new facility at
12-16 Earthmover Crescent in Te Rapa
North, half occupied by NZ Post. Overall,
Te Rapa North experienced an addition of
almost 34,000sqm of new stock.
2022 also saw the completion of a number
of new multi-unit developments situated
along Arthur Porter Drive, Earthmover
Crescent and Maui Street in Te Rapa North.
Despite the economic headwinds, the
Hamilton industrial market continued to
experience strong developer and occupier
activity during 2022.
Office
Overall office vacancy in the Hamilton
CBD has fallen 0.3% to 8.2% in the six
months to December 2022, with the amount
of vacant space remaining essentially stable
and the reduction being driven by the largely
occupied additional buildings increasing the
amount of occupied stock.
After holding relatively stable over the
past 18 months at 3.1%, Grade A vacancy has
since seen a decrease of 0.3% to 2.8% following
the full occupation of the NZI building at
225 Collingwood Street.
Grade B also saw a decline in vacancy,
falling from 6.3% to 5.7%. There have only
been four new vacancies, ranging from just
over 160sqm at Vero House to 250sqm at
Anglesea Imaging Centre. Previously vacant
space at 54 Bryce Street has since been occupied
by Spec Savers Audiology.
Grades C – E experienced an overall
increase during the second half of 2022,
which now sits at in excess of 10%, with
Grade E alone, now 15.9%
Although the latest survey results show a
relatively stable office occupier market in the
higher quality stock (Grades A and B) and
more activity in lower grades, this is more a
reflection of tight availability in quality stock,
than a lack of demand for new and efficient
workplaces by occupiers.
Flight to quality remains a strong theme,
as businesses aim to create workplace environments
that help not only to attract and
retain talent, but to maintain and improve
employee morale and company culture.
While hybrid working and more employee
flexibility is here to stay, it doesn’t seem to
be a major issue in the Waikato where commuting
to and from the office is perhaps less
stressful,
Overall
Undoubtedly, Hamilton is going through
a major transformation period with a plethora
of developments under construction and
in the pipeline, in a wide range of sectors
from logistics, manufacturing, infrastructure
to office, arts and recreation. We believe
that occupier demand for high-quality
office accommodation and industrial space
will remain strong (as evidenced by some
large precommitments in under construction
developments), increasingly including
national and multinational businesses evaluating
their growth opportunities outside of
Auckland and government from Wellington.
Hamilton is quickly becoming the focal
point of the golden triangle economic area,
which bodes well for the future of the Hamilton
industrial and office markets.
0.00%
Jun‐18 Jun‐19 Jun‐20 Jun‐21 Jun‐22
CBD Overall Office CBD A Grade Office CBD B Grade Office Industrial
For your copy of the latest Hamilton Industrial, CBD Office or CBD Retail Surveys, please
email hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz
NAI Harcourts Hamilton
Monarch Commercial Ltd MREINZ Licensed
Agent REAA 2008
Cnr Victoria & London Streets, HAMILTON
07 850 5252 | hamilton@naiharcourts.co.nz
www.naiharcourts.co.nz