Chris Bishop To Present New Show 'My Reasonably Affordable Dream Home'

As part of its refreshed spring lineup TVNZ has announced that cuddly, relatable housing minister Chris Bishop will present a brand new lifestyle show My Reasonably Affordable Dream Home.

The series, coming on the heels of Minister Bishop relaxing the minimum size requirements for apartments and dwellings, is a cross between George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces and Your Home Made Perfect, a TVNZ publicist explained.

‘The idea is that Chris will take a young couple on an exciting journey to give them an immersive experience of what their new home will look like. He’ll put them in a cubicle and they’ll say ‘So is this the bit where we put the VR glasses on?’.

‘And then – this is the twist – then he’ll say ‘No, no – this is where you’ll actually be living!’’

‘Then he’ll wow them with cool Amazing-Spaces stuff like a fold-down bed that converts to a dining table. And a toilet that actually sits inside the shower – talk about easy to clean!’

‘Do you know some of the most luxurious long-distance sleeper trains in the world have showers with toilets in them? How cool is that!’

Minister Bishop say he’s excited to be helping hopeful home purchasers set realistic expectations of where they might be lucky enough to live for who-knows-how-many years.

‘We’re tapping into that whole tiny-homes vibe. But instead of pitching tiny homes as some kind of alternative minimalism, we’re bringing them into the mainstream. It’s less ‘isn’t that cute?’ and more ‘this is your life now, get used to it.’’

My Reasonably Affordable Dream Home is also a chance for viewers to see the upbeat, infectiously positive side of the famously hard-working minister.

‘It’ll be fun! Look, you always get the naysayers. People saying ‘I suppose these places will be so small that when you put the key in the door it’ll break the window on the far side’. But that’s just ridiculous. I mean, they’ll have keyless entry for a start.’