Productivity Commission report is a wakeup call

Media Release

21 October 2015

Productivity Commission report is a wakeup call for councils and central Government

Property Council strongly supports Productivity Commission’s report into New Zealand’s growing housing problem and urges the Government to implement its findings.

The Using Land for Housing report is a critical indictment of the country’s current planning rules, which are extremely detrimental to building the number of houses needed in growth areas.

The report cites many Property Council concerns such as the unavailability of urban land that is attributed to skyrocketing house prices, costly and restrictive planning rules, poor infrastructure provision, and a generally unresponsive planning system.

Chief executive Connal Townsend says the report should come as a serious warning that New Zealand risks facing irreversible consequences if urgent action is not taken.

“Property Council is eager to work with the Government, councils and other agencies to contribute to resolving many of the issues cited in the report. As industry experts, we are keen to collaborate and share our on-the-ground experience with decision makers at a local and national level.”

“The report spells out what we’ve been warning of for many years, which is that the combination of expensive land, a failing planning system and over-zealous rules produce a market that encourages building expensive houses.

“We support the Commission’s call for a deeper review of the planning system. The Resource Management Act, Local Government Act and Land Transport Management Act do not meet the housing and infrastructure needs of our cities.

“These Acts are not integrated and suffer from a major disconnect between land use, transport and infrastructure planning and funding.

“We are disappointed that the report did not address the issue of council funding in significant detail. The growth areas in New Zealand need new infrastructure, which can be incredibly expensive for communities to fund.

“The opportunity has been wasted to explore alternative funding mechanisms that don’t ultimately rely on the ratepayer.”

Property Council believes it is critical for councils to understand the implications of their planning rules and infrastructure funding models on development feasibility.

At a time when New Zealand, and Auckland in particular, are in dire need of more houses, the Government, councils and other agencies must work with the private sector to deliver optimum results.

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