Keith Hay

Who was Keith Hay?

Keith Wilson Hay, CBE, was a New Zealand homebuilder, entrepreneur, local body politician and conservative Christian political activist.

Born in Hastings, Hay was the only son of Scottish immigrant William Hay and Elsie Major, who had married three years previously. In 1930, Hay left school at standard six to split fenceposts for a retired headmaster at Kohukohu, who taught the young man accountancy during the evenings. In 1933, Hay relocated to Auckland and obtained a job at the KDV Morningside box factory. In 1938, he tried to start his own caravan business, but later found that he was more talented at home building.

In 1942, Hay married Enid Paris in Mount Eden, having joined the New Zealand Army Service Corps in 1941. Although he was initially involved in the Mount Eden branch of the New Zealand Labour Party, he unsuccessfully stood as candidate for breakaway Labour MP John A. Lee and his Democratic Labour Party at the 1943 New Zealand general election.

During his time at the Army Service Corps, Hay pioneered a number of innovative home building and relocation procedures, and these were to stand him in good stead in civilian life when he started Keith Hay Homes in 1949. In 1953, he moved his company to Mount Roskill.