Latest news with #WendyGreen
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Automotive
- RNZ News
Safe or risky?: NZTA, driving schools at odds over car simulators
Driving schools that offer lessons in high-tech car simulators are at odds with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) over safety risks they could pose for learner drivers once they hit the road. The agency argues simulators could encourage over-confidence, putting new drivers at greater risk of crashing. But instructors who own simulators say they are not dangerous and expose people to a wide range of scenarios. Excellence Driving Academy co-directors Wendy and Tony Green offered lessons in simulators, saying they could replicate different weather conditions, times of day and road types. Wendy Green said they also let drivers from smaller rural areas experience virtual big city streets. "That's where the simulator is kind of in its own, because it doesn't matter where you live geographically. You still have the ability to be able to be taught the skills you need to drive anywhere," she said. "[NZTA] don't know what they're talking about. Our simulators are not dangerous." Wendy and Tony Green. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Tony Green said roads were globally generic but had been "New Zealand-ised" to include familiar lines, signs and lights. Simulators could also generate hazards like vehicles running red lights. In a paper published late last year, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) expressed concerns about simulators, saying they could promote over-confidence, corresponding with a crash risk. "Any benefits that might arise through training are greatly out-weighed by the overconfidence imparted in those involved in these courses," the paper said. "There is no substitute for on-road training and experience. Learners do not acquire the same level of skill and competence and there are potential risks for increased over-confidence, and corresponding crash risk." While simulators had some advantages for drivers, such as exposure to different scenarios, they had limitations in teaching basic vehicle handling skills, NZTA said. "Owing to the difficulty in emulating on-road driving... simulator training could lead to incorrect learning of procedural skills such as reduced mirror scanning (due to learning on a simulator with a single screen and narrow field of view) or poor vehicle control (due to limitations in steering, braking or motion functionality)," the paper said. NZTA declined RNZ's request for an interview, but in a statement said driving schools increasingly wanted to introduce simulator technology to New Zealand. It did not support them as a replacement for on road-training or using them to increase familiarity with driving and would not fund or support driving simulator trials. The agency said its position was based on the latest available research and was peer reviewed by international road safety experts. NZTA did not directly address a question whether it would like the technology banned, instead saying it would monitor developments. "We would be happy to work with industry to help them shape scientifically robust studies that may further advance the current evidence base," the agency said. AA road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said the technology could help with real-world practice, but ultimately people still needed to learn on real roads. "If you crash when you're driving a car in a simulation the computer can just reset and you carry on driving. In the real world, the consequences of people making a mistake, having things go wrong, can be severe. People can be hurt. People can even lose their lives." Selwyn Driving School. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon The Greens had sold four simulators to instructors since 2019, including to Selwyn Driving School director Brad Mannering. Mannering installed the unit in a converted ambulance at a cost of around $100,000. He said simulators could let people experience virtual driving such as driving on ice or safely performing emergency brake training. "This way I can guarantee exposure to the top 25 reasons accidents that happen world-wide. They have at least a memory of that situation occurring for them and hopefully they'll be able to recall that a time they need it on the road," he said. "The thing that I most disagree with is they've picked and chosen which parts of those international studies they wanted to use in their document. There is actually a whole lot of stuff that supports the use of driving simulators and education and I think they've glazed over some of that stuff." Selwyn Driving School director Brad Mannering. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Oranga Tamariki funded Mannering for the past year to run weekly simulator lessons at Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo youth justice centre in Rolleston. Residential services youth justice manager Aimee Hunter said the defensive tactics taught in the simulator helped a teenager at Te Puna Wai get their restricted drivers licence. "It's things you can't teach in a classroom. Those are the points that when we get back to our young person, who was able to obtain a restricted drivers licence, their whānau is incredibly grateful, and have seen the change in that young person," she said. "They are now out in the community, independent, driving on a legitimate drivers licence and working a permanent full-time job. Some of the feedback we've had from whānau has been huge." In April, the government proposed the first major changes to the country's driver licence system in 14 years, under which drivers would not need to take a second practical test to get their licence. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Sun
26-04-2025
- Business
- The Sun
We only have £250 a month left after bills due to a shared-ownership nightmare
WHEN Wendy Green bought a shared ownership two-bed flat she had no idea it would turn into a financial nightmare. But twenty years later the 48-year-old says she is trapped with hardly any disposable income due to soaring service charges and rent costs. 3 3 3 The policies and procedures manager, who lives with her retired husband in southeast London, has seen her home's service charges skyrocket from £1,000 a year to an eye-watering £6,100. The increased costs have left her and her husband with just £250 a month in disposable income between them. Shared ownership schemes allow first-time buyers to purchase a share of a property if they can't afford to take out a mortgage for the total value of the home. They can help by offering lower upfront costs that let you gradually build up how much of the property you own. You basically rent a portion of the property from a housing association and get a shared ownership mortgage to pay for the rest. Wendy told The Sun that when she bought her share in the property, she put down a deposit of £10,000 for an £81,000 share. At the time she was paying service charges of roughly £75 to £80 a month. Her home had been valued at £280,000 - although within months it had dropped to £230,000. She said shared ownership had seemed like the "best option" and it was "what we could afford" at the time as she didn't have a large deposit to put down. "But we didn't realise that we'd be in this position in 20 years' time," she said. "I thought we'd be able to buy within about 10 years... but I'm never going to be able to own my own home. I'm going to be renting after I retire." Best schemes for first-time buyers That's because in the last three years alone the property's service charges have doubled, and she's now paying a huge £508 per month. On top of that, the couple are paying rent at £826 a month and for their mortgage - so in total their housing costs are £1,334 a month. The rent had initially been £393 so it's gone up by a huge £434 a month. Wendy is also expecting the mortgage costs to rise soon as she will be coming off her very low five-year fixed rate next year. The couple then spend about £500 on bills per month and another £300 on food. Wendy works in Cambridge, so she's also spending at least £100 per month on petrol. Other expenses include food, insurance and a health plan for their two cats. Wendy's husband has a small private pension but she says it's "not a huge amount" and all these costs leave them with about £250 a month between them to spend. "If I need a new washing machine, for example, that's got to come out of the £250 somewhere," Wendy explains. She says the couple are "frugal" and she is "forever saying no" to social events with friends to save money. The couple don't have Spotify, Apple TV, or Netflix. But the increased costs mean they are unable to save, and they're also unable to put any more towards their mortgage. What is shared ownership? Consumer reporter Emily Mee looks at what you need to know about shared ownership schemes... Shared ownership can be a way of helping first-time buyers get on the housing ladder if they can't afford a full mortgage. Buyers usually purchase between 10% and 75% of the property, and the rest will be owned by a housing association. Like with a normal mortgage, you would need to come up with a deposit and there will be an interest rate to pay. But the deposit can be as low as 5%, making it easier for those with only moderate savings to get on the ladder. You'll need to make monthly mortgage payments, but the housing association will also charge rent on its portion of the property. The rent is decided by the housing association but is usually below the market rate and around 3% of its share. That means if you bought a 25% share of a £300,000 property, you would need to pay rent on the remaining 75%, or £225,000. Based on a 3% charge, this would work out as £562.50 per month. On top of the rent and mortgage, buyers will need to pay any service charges. You can use the shared ownership scheme if you have a household income of £80,000 or less, or £90,000 in London. You must be a first-time buyer or have sold your home and be unable to afford a new one. Wendy says she has tried several times to buy a larger share of her flat, which is known as staircasing. Staircasing lets you increase the share you own of the property by making small payments. These payments are based on a percentage of the value of the property. For example, if you wanted to buy an additional 10% share of a £300,000 property, you would need to pay £30,000. The aim with staircasing is that those with a shared ownership property could end up owning their home outright, making it easier to sell on later. But Wendy says each time she has tried to increase her share, she has been "pretty much laughed out of the bank" because she couldn't pass affordability checks. "When I consider my mortgage and my rent, I could actually afford it," she says. "But because the service charges are so high, they're not going to give me [a bigger loan]." Wendy says she feels trapped in her home because if she were to sell her share, she wouldn't get much equity. This is partly because the block of flats she's living in was found to have dangerous cladding after the devastating Grenfell Tower fire. At one point, a waking watch - when people patrol a building 24/7 for signs of a fire - had to be implemented to keep residents safe. It means insurance costs are high at the property and the service charges have increased, so Wendy would likely need to drop the price of her share to get a buyer. "I am at that stage where I want to consider moving but am unable to because most people won't get a mortgage with the service charge levels," she says. She adds: "When I think about it, I don't know that I would make any money [from a sale]." Wendy says her mortgage is at £60,000 as she hasn't been able to pay it off much over the years. "My lease is at 80 years, so buying additional years would cost me approximately £25,000," she says. "On paper it looks like I would get £50k equity, but it will be less when you consider other costs." The 48-year-old also says she would need to move out of London if she sold because she wouldn't have enough for a deposit in the capital now. Currently her sister lives nearby and she has friends in the area. What are the pros and cons of shared ownership? Although shared ownership schemes can help you get onto the housing ladder, there are some hidden dangers to watch out for. For example, you could get hit by high service charges, short leases or even the risk of being evicted. Here are the pros and cons to weigh up… Pros You'll only need a small deposit because you're only buying a share of the property and therefore can get a smaller mortgage. You won't need to to be able to afford the full market value of a property you're interested in. You could see your share go up in value over time, meaning you're building equity on the property. Cons You'll usually need to pay a service charge to cover the cost of cleaning and maintenance. The initial charge isn't fixed so this cost can end up soaring over the years. Plus, the cost of the service charge doesn't depend on the share of the property you own so you could end up paying the same as someone with a 75% share even if you only have a 25% share. Shared ownership properties are leasehold, so you would own the property for a set number of years but you don't own the land it's on. When the term of the lease expires, the property will belong to the landowner unless you extend the lease. If you want to apply for a lease extension from your landlord, this could cost tens of thousands of pounds. The property becomes harder to sell the more years you have left on the lease. Therefore you could be forced to reduce your asking price to encourage someone to buy the property. High monthly mortgage payments and rent could mean that you do not save any money compared with just getting a mortgage. Just like with renting, you're still at risk of being evicted by your landlord as you pay rent on the portion of the property you don't own. This could happen if you fail to pay rent, sub-let your home or are a nuisance. If you're evicted there is a risk that you could lose the proportion of the home you have already bought as you do not own it fully in the eyes of the law until you have staircased up to 100%. The housing association is not legally obliged to reimburse you if you are evicted, although you are legally entitled to be paid for your share on the sale of the property. The stress of everything has had a huge impact on Wendy's day-to-day life. "I have actually been at the doctors over the past couple of years discussing the service charges and building safety issues," she says. "It's not been great for my mental health." If Wendy had known how everything would unfold, she would never have got a shared ownership home. She says she loves the place she lives in and she'd initially been excited to have her own space. "For at least a year I'd walk through that door and just think 'this is us'," she said. But 20 years down the line, she's no closer to properly owning her home - and she can't see how that will change.
