Using land for housing: Update May 2015

The Government has asked the Productivity Commission to review the local planning and development systems of New Zealand’s fastest-growing urban areas and identify leading practices that are effective in making land and development capacity available to meet housing demand. The Commission is developing its draft findings and recommendations and will be releasing its draft report on 17 June 2015.

The draft report will examine:

• what influences the incentives, attitudes, and actions of landowners, homeowners and councils toward the supply of new housing and land for housing, and options to align their incentives and encourage the release and development of land for housing;
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• ways to improve the process for rezoning land for housing in fast-growing New Zealand areas;
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• strategies for, and barriers to, the supply of land for housing when it is needed;
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• how land use regulations enable or inhibit the development of land for housing in New Zealand cities, what causes these restrictions, and possible improvements;
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• water and transport infrastructure requirements and costs associated with new growth, how councils manage and use existing infrastructure assets, how councils currently pay for infrastructure, and what alternatives are available;
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• the governance arrangements for infrastructure and the use of council-controlled organisations to deliver water and transport infrastructure; and
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• whether new institutions are needed to meet the demand for land and housing.
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The Commission released an issues paper in November 2014, and has been talking to developers, councillors and local authority staff, government officials and academic experts. We have received 75 submissions on the issues paper.Read the submissions on our website.

Inquiry timeline
17 June 2015: Draft report released for submissions
4 August: Submissions due on the draft report
30 September: Final report due to Government

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