Housing policy to tackle housing supply, affordability and homelessness

Mayoral candidate Phil Goff wants the new council to focus on faster and cheaper building consents as part of the drive to increase housing supply, more affordable housing schemes, and a co-ordinating role to tackle homelessness.

He today released a policy designed to increase Auckland’s housing supply by encouraging growth up and out as well as seeking new funding sources to help ease the housing crisis.

“The current Council has done its bit by passing the Unitary Plan. It is now up to the incoming Council to ensure Auckland grows while protecting our green spaces and heritage,” said Phil Goff.

“As Mayor, I will institute an immediate review to determine how Auckland Council’s consenting processes can be made faster, cheaper and in line with world best practice. This is an area where Council can make a major contribution towards the construction of more affordable homes.

“I will also work with central government to find innovative ways to help local government meet the high costs of supplying infrastructure to support new development. One of the options is infrastructure bonds. While the Government is heading in the right direction with its Housing Infrastructure Fund, it needs to be expanded and that’s something I will advocate for on behalf of Aucklanders.

“Auckland is a wonderful place to live but it is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many residents. This needs to change if we are to be city where talented and enterprising people want to live and can thrive. I will put Auckland Council support behind expanding affordable housing schemes, such as what has been achieved at Waimahia.

“An issue which must be addressed is tackling chronic homelessness in our city. Council can coordinate this process by bringing together Government, NGOs and the private sector to apply a ‘housing first’ model which has been very successful in New Zealand and overseas. The aim will be to eliminate chronic homelessness,” said Phil Goff.

The comprehensive housing policy released today addresses both the supply and demand side of Auckland’s housing market by:

• Developing disincentives to land banking with the inclusion of ‘use it or lose it’ clauses on approvals and consents.

• Putting Auckland Council support behind affordable housing schemes.

• Advocating for Government to get tougher on property speculation including extending the bright line test.

• Advocating for Government to requiring foreign investors to build new homes rather than buying existing ones.

• Encouraging Government to consider pulling back from our record migration levels until infrastructural developments have caught up with population growth.

• Exploring options with Government to address constraints on the supply of material and skills.

“Auckland is in the grip of a housing crisis. There is no easy solution and Council alone certainly cannot fix the problem. As Mayor I will work in partnership with central government, the private sector and other stakeholders to tackle the crisis. To make a difference we need all of these parties working together,” said Phil Goff.

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1608/POLICY__Restoring_Housing_Affordability.pdf

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1608/SPEECH_Restoring_Housing_Affordability.pdf

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