Unlocking land for development

The Productivity Commission’s report Using land for housing provides workable recommendations, says BusinessNZ.

The report makes a number of recommendations for unlocking more land supply for housing, including better council Plans, better land use rules, and more infrastructure provision.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly says these issues are also restricting business development, and fixing them would improve the New Zealand economy overall.

“At present council Plans can be overly complex and self-contradictory. Land use rules can be arbitrary and unnecessarily restrictive. And infrastructure bottlenecks are holding back both housing and business development.”

The report’s recommendations include –

• Greater liberalisation and standardisation in the planning system and more use of electronic planning tools
• More central government involvement in the development and approval of council Plans
• More use of debt to fund new infrastructure and more use of user charges to manage demands on infrastructure
• Clarifying the place of housing and cities in the Resource Management Act

Mr O’Reilly said business would consider and make submissions on the Productivity Commission’s recommendations, including its suggestion of establishing an urban development authority to acquire land, provide rezoning and supply services for new development.

“The Commission’s report is of the highest public interest, and it is to be hoped that all with an interest in better housing and economic development will contribute to its inquiry.”

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