“Len Brown’s admission that only 170 homes have been built in Special Housing Areas since he was elected Mayor proves the Council’s housing strategy is a total failure, “says Affordable Auckland Leader Stephen Berry.

“Over thirty suburbs in Auckland now have an average house value of over one million dollars. Building 170 homes will not make one iota of difference to this damning statistic. A different approach must be taken and it cannot be one that is led or co-ordinated by Council.”

Mr. Berry says the most powerful step Council could take to arrest the housing bubble is to abolish the Metropolitan Urban Limit. “Land values two kilometres inside the limit are seven times the values of land two kilometres outside of the limit. It doesn’t take an economist to see what is causing the problem.”

Equally damning is the average cost of obtaining consent to develop a site in one of the Special Housing Areas. “The Mayor has revealed it costs an average of $33,000 to obtain consent to build. When it is cheaper to buy a new car than to deal with Council bureaucrats, you know something is seriously wrong.

“The Council isn’t leading a housing strategy; it’s preventing one.”

Stephen Berry was the Affordable Auckland candidate for Mayor in 2013. He will be hosting an exploratory committee at Tasca Café, Newmarket on April 11 at 4pm to examine what role Affordable Auckland will have in the 2016 local body elections.

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