Fast Forward 2025 Semester 2 | Shane Brealey, Simplicity Living

Fast Forward 2025: Systems Change - Finance, Planning, and Community in the Climate Era

August-September 2025 | Te Pare School of Architecture and Planning, University of Auckland

How do we fundamentally transform the systems that shape our built environment? Fast Forward 2025 brings together perspectives on disrupting finance, master planning, and community development to address New Zealand's most pressing challenges: housing affordability, climate adaptation, and sustainable urban growth.

As communities seek new approaches for the future, these speakers demonstrate how rethinking fundamental systems—from investment models to planning frameworks to community governance—can create pathways to genuinely sustainable and equitable futures.

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Shane Brealey, Managing Director, Simplicity Living

Beyond the Build: Rethinking Housing Finance and Long-term Community Investment

From delivering 700 apartments $30 million under valuation to first home buyers, Shane demonstrates how removing profit extraction can make quality housing genuinely affordable at scale.

Shane brings a unique perspective to housing delivery, combining deep construction expertise with innovative financing models that prioritise community over profit. Training as a Civil Engineer before moving into project management and development, he spent 15 years in senior positions with major Australian corporates including Lend Lease, Mirvac, and Multiplex.

After founding and running NZ Strong Construction for 10 years, Shane established NZ Living, which delivered 700 apartments that sold collectively $30 million under valuation, predominantly to first home buyers. This demonstrated that quality housing could be genuinely affordable when development margins were redirected to buyers rather than extracted as profit.

In 2022, NZ Living was gifted to the KiwiSaver and investor members of Simplicity, enabling a larger-scale rollout of this alternative model. Now heading Simplicity Living, Shane leads a team delivering 10,000 high-quality, secure-tenure Build-to-Rent homes. By the end of 2025, 982 apartments will be in construction using innovative techniques that deliver faster, more cost-effective, and more durable buildings.

Shane's work shows that affordable housing isn't about compromising on quality - it's about fundamentally rethinking who benefits from the development process and designing for 100-year ownership rather than quick returns.

Key insights from his talk:

· How removing profit margins makes quality housing genuinely affordable

· The mechanics of pension fund investment in housing and what it means for community stability

· Building communities for permanence rather than profit extraction

· Innovative construction techniques that deliver better outcomes faster

Please note that tickets purchased from unauthorized third-party websites are not valid; please use only the approved website (eventbrite.co.nz) for ticket purchases/registrations.

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Getting to the venue:

The main Faculty of Engineering and Design buildings are conveniently located at the heart of the University's City Campus, and are easily accessible via many forms public transport. For further information on public transport schedules, visit the Auckland Transport website.

For those driving in, further information on parking options can be found here.