Time to Take Action on Housing Crisis

Media Release

9 October 2014

Time to Take Action on Housing Crisis

Property Council strongly supports the Government’s recent statement that insufficient land supply and overly restrictive district plans are the cause of soaring house prices.

But too much finger pointing is stopping the country from moving forward in the housing supply debate.

Property Council has long been arguing that while housing supply and demand impacts prices, local authorities play a vital role in interpreting and applying the Resource Management and Local Government Acts which affect the supply of housing to the market significantly.

The 2011 Productivity Commission into Housing Affordability recognised that constraints on land supply was a major driver of unaffordability- this still has not changed.

Overly restrictive consenting processes make it increasingly difficult to undertake development, resulting in fewer developments and rocketing house prices.

Property Council believes councils around the country must take a harder look at actually enabling and facilitating economically feasible, yet quality, development. This will not be an easy feat but it is crucial to resolving the country’s housing crisis.

Chief Executive Connal Townsend says all relevant parties must come together and develop a coherent plan that will address this issue.

“Auckland Council’s Housing Project Office and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment are working particularly hard in this respect. We need real collaboration between Central and Local Government with the inclusion of the private sector.

“Otherwise we are looking at a housing crisis that will span generations, with fewer and fewer New Zealanders being able to afford their first home.”

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