Last weekend I went on TV3's The Nation, and the gift of travelling from Wellington to Auckland and back again before lunchtime gave me the chance to distil the entire affordable housing issue into this short plea:

It seems to me that the whole shebang has become a game where everyone sits in a circle and points the finger of blame at each other — politicians, regulators, social services and members of the construction industry alike. The game has no end, the circle goes on indefinitely.

It appears we can agree on one thing only — there is a whopping great lack of supply across the housing continuum, from affordable homes for middle-income earners, to social and community units for those in the low-income bracket, through to emergency relief for those at poverty's door. Housing supply is now at a critical point, as witnessed by people living in cars, marae opening their doors, voters taking to the streets.

The masterplanners, architects, designers, specifiers, engineers, manufacturers, builders and other construction professionals are either actively doing something about it, or geared up, poised for action.

Those operating in the offsite construction space know that they can produce housing of good quality with significant time savings.

So what is holding us back?

In short, leadership and the proverbial chequebook.

This is where we make an earnest plea to the multi-unit residential development members of the Property Council and the NZ Council of Infrastructure Development — we know you are out there and we want to connect you with PrefabNZ members engaged in modern methods of construction.

Looking at history, we know New Zealand can deliver large-scale housing; look at the Railways housing in the early 1900s — over 1,600 timber kitset homes which are still cherished today. In the 1960s, over 650 houses were made around Oamaru and Central Otago for hydro-scheme workers, and the temporary town of Twizel became a permanent community as a result. By the late 1970s, a kiwi consortium called Industrialised Building Systems was ready to set-up manufacture for 1,200 houses per annum.

Railway House, Source: PrefabNZ.

Hydro-scheme housing, Source: De Geest Construction Oamaru.

Under strong leadership, we have a proven track record.

What will it take to improve on history? Today we have vastly superior design and assembly skills through prefabrication, mass-customisation, community engagement and place-making. We are just missing the singular leadership and the development funding.

My plea:

• To our political leaders across housing, social services and finance: please work together or appoint an accountable new minister on your behalf.
• To all politicians: please put your short-term self-interests aside, read the mood of your voters, and act with strong social morals today.
• To our developers: please get out your cheque books and act for 'people, places, profits' (in that order).

Consolidation, cooperation, and a cheque-writer, please.