Chloe Hes and Ben Speedy are the season 10 winners of The Block NZ. [Source: NZ Herald]

Warner Brothers Discovery has revealed The Block NZ won’t be returning in 2023 amid New Zealand’s “challenging housing market”.

It comes despite the show being announced as part of the network’s annual showcase at the beginning of November.

The company announced that it would be replaced by a Kiwi version of Australian format House Rules, which sees teams renovating each other’s homes to compete for “the ultimate prize”, as reported by Newshub.

Warner Brothers Discovery’s senior director of production Vicki Keogh said in a statement, “The Block NZ is an incredibly important show in our schedule and every year we want to give contestants the best possible chance of success while also delivering an exceptional product for our partners.

“We’ve been monitoring the housing market very closely and due to the ongoing challenges that are occurring, we have made the tough but necessary decision to postpone the show to 2024 to give contestants and the show the best chance of success.

“We know our audiences love a good home reno show and are delighted to announce that we have commissioned a local version of House Rules, another much loved format that we look forward to adapting for our audiences in 2023.”

This year’s version of the show saw returning contestants battle it out for “redemption” with Chloe Hes and Ben Speedy ultimately declared the winners after a nail-biting auction for the four properties in Orewa.

They sold their house for just $4000 over the reserve price, netting the lowest-profit win in 10 years of The Block.

Meanwhile, the remaining couples lost out and walked away with nothing – leading to outrage on social media and calls for the show to be scrapped.

“This is horrible for all that hard work …” wrote one.

“Such a sad sad show … can’t even really be happy for the winners …” commented another.

Others said they were “gutted” for the contestants and thought it was “Rats*** they did all that work for nothing. The reserves are way too high.”

OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said the series crashed and burned due to “wrong time, wrong location, wrong type of property” – and reflected the changes to the Auckland housing market.

In October this year, a casting call for season 11 was listed on The Block website.

The previous week, the Herald reported that new documents show the TV programme’s foreign-owned producers have gained permission to buy a block of coastal land at Waiake on the North Shore, 18km north of the city centre.

The 1042sq m section on 850 Beach Rd overlooks the waters of Browns Bay and Rangitoto Island.