Housing Minister Chris Bishop has announced his ‘Going for Housing Growth’ policy which he says with flood the market with new homes, both up and out, but local councils say they weren’t consulted and are wondering how they will afford it
New housing requires roads, footpaths, green space, and services, which are currently really expensive for councils and ratepayers, says Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) President Sam Broughton.
While he welcomes the Government’s commitment to housing growth, he says the lack of support to make it happen is a major concern for councils.
“Councils want more housing growth. However, the logjam on housing has happened because councils are not resourced to support the level of growth that everyone knows we need.
“If we are serious about solving the housing crisis, we must change how growth is paid for.
“A 50 percent share of the GST revenue on new builds – as signalled in the Coalition Agreement – is a good place to start and it was disappointing not to see that commitment today. Rates alone simply can’t cut it.”
Broughton says despite meeting with the Housing Minister last month to discuss how local and central government can work together to get more housing built, LGNZ was not consulted on these changes.
“We are concerned at the increasing central direction on planning that we’ve seen through successive governments, especially given this Government’s commitment to localism.
“If the Government is serious about getting housing built, any changes should have both political consensus and buy-in from local government, otherwise we risk going through this all over again with the next change of government. Flip-flopping only costs councils and ratepayers.”
More information on the policy: Going for Housing Growth programme – Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (hud.govt.nz)
