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Housing crisis prompts government to pass law against the rich buying ‘doomsday bolt-holes’

Foreigners face a ban on buying homes in New Zealand after a spending splurge by millionaires seeking doomsday bolt-holes crowded out local buyers and pushed up property prices.

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Home purchases by tycoons such as tech billionaire Peter Thiel, the PayPal founder, and Matt Lauer, the former NBC host who lost his job after allegations of sexual misconduct, have led the New Zealand government to crack down on the trend.

In this world of concentrating wealth, we don't want this coterie of ultra-wealthy people overseas being able to outbid successful New Zealanders for what is our birthright, not theirs

The country’s allure for the mega-rich planning a safe space to ride out the apocalypse has become almost a cliche in recent years. Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder, told The New Yorker last year: “Saying you’re buying a house in New Zealand is kind of a wink, wink, say no more.”

But the country’s centre-Left government, led by prime minister Jacinda Ardern, is blaming the apocalypse preppers for a major housing crisis, with rates of homelessness among the highest in the developed world.