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RMA changes welcome, but problem bigger than housing

Wellington (22 January 2015): The New Zealand Initiative has welcomed the overhaul of the Resource Management Act, in particular the focus on housing affordability and the restoration of property rights, but is still concerned about the ambiguity surrounding Section 5.

The latest overhaul of the legislation was announced yesterday by the Hon Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Building and Housing, citing economic research that indicated the RMA had cost the country 40,000 homes and added $30 billion in costs.

That finding echoes The New Zealand Initiative's own research. Priced Out showed how land supply restrictions and the burden of infrastructure costs had severely reduced the affordability of homes in Auckland, while Up or Out? examined the effects of restrictive zoning rules on house prices.

The Initiative strongly supported the government’s intention to give greater recognition to property rights, a longstanding deficiency of the RMA.

However, the think tank noted that the proposed changes sidestep a fundamental problem with section 5 of the RMA, which enshrines the ill-defined concept of sustainability over the wellbeing of New Zealanders.

“The RMA has sacrificed the wellbeing of New Zealanders on the altar of sustainability, and not just in housing,” said Dr Bryce Wilkinson, a senior fellow at the Initiative.

“The fact that the Minister's speech yesterday said that the government will not change section 5 is politically understandable, but regrettable policy. Unless section 5's ambiguity is removed it will continue to harm New Zealanders' wellbeing, even if the announced measures reduce the problems in the housing market.”

Wilkinson also noted that the RMA’s failed to impose any meaningful cost-benefit test on local authorities and planners for their myriad of petty intrusions on New Zealanders' freedoms.

The think tank supported Minister Smith’s analysis, and said the government's proposed changes should help ease the housing problem in the fullness of time. But until Councils’ incentives better aligned with the national interest, development of all kinds is likely to remain a struggle.

ENDS

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