Policy aims to boost housing supply
The New Zealand Labour and National Parties continue to draw flak from city councils for their proposed housing reforms to boost supply.
Last month, Minister of Housing Megan Woods and Minister for the Environment David Parker announced new housing reforms that aim to build up to three homes of up to three storeys in cities without needing resource consent. The joint-housing policy also brings forward the implementation of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) by at least a year to cut the red tape that blocks housing development.
In a statement released yesterday, the Selwyn District Council welcomed the parties’ goal to provide more housing for the growing population.
“We support the government’s aims to address New Zealand’s housing shortage and enable a wider range of housing options, including more affordable homes,” said Mayor Sam Broughton.
However, Mayor Broughton expressed the council’s concerns over the broad approach of the proposed housing intensification rules and the speed they are being introduced at, including the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and other matters) Amendment Bill.
The mayor explained that the proposed reforms are relevant to Selwyn as it continues to be the fastest-growing district in New Zealand regarding the total number of new residents and percentage growth.
“However, given the significant impact this bill has on our council’s land use and infrastructure planning, we are frustrated that the government only allowed a very short submission period which prevented us [from] consulting with our community on the proposed changes and how we should respond,” he continued.
Read more: Hamilton City Council deems joint-housing policy ‘fundamentally flawed’
The Auckland Council shared the same sentiments and called on the government to address the significant impacts of the proposed widespread intensification, poor housing design, and the inability to deliver infrastructure crucial for supporting new communities within the bill.
In its submission, the council urged the government to improve the bill to properly address the critical causes of the housing crisis.
“Under Auckland’s Unitary Plan, zoning changes enable more than 900,000 additional dwellings. We are already consenting up to 20,000 homes a year, four times what we were a decade ago, and around two-thirds of new consents are for intensive housing,” said Mayor Phil Goff.
“The constraint on housing in Auckland is not zoning changes, but the cost of the infrastructure needed to support new developments, as well as skills and building materials shortages.”
Mayor Goff further explained that inadequate standards would allow for the construction of homes that do not provide a good quality of life to residents.
“It’s about ensuring that occupants have a well-functioning and liveable home with privacy, access to sunlight and green space, and connections to wider infrastructure and community amenities. We are keen to work with government and developers of intensive housing with a reputation for excellence to remedy that,” the mayor added.
Last week, Hamilton City Council also expressed its concerns on the proposed housing reforms, calling them “fundamentally flawed.” As a result, it called on the government to withdraw the proposed bill because it is in “direct conflict” with the council’s strategic growth planning and some of the government’s policies.
Other councils also shared Hamilton City Council’s views, including Waipa District Council, Waikato District Council, Waikato Regional Council, Waikato-Tainui Waikato River Authority, and ACT New Zealand (ACT).
