AKL Mayor welcomes Unitec Housing Announcement

Mayor Phil Goff has welcomed the government’s purchase of 29 hectares of land from Unitec to create up to 4,000 new homes in Auckland.

Mayor Phil Goff said, “The new housing development will deliver new homes badly needed to address Auckland’s housing crisis. I particularly welcome that the new housing site will deliver affordable and social, as well as market priced, homes in a central isthmus location.

“I applaud the vision and ambition of the government’s Kiwibuild programme which aims to deliver 5,000 extra affordable homes and over 1,000 additional social homes in Auckland.

“We need a transformational programme to tackle the increasing unaffordability of home ownership for many Aucklanders as well as soaring rents and growing homelessness.

“It won’t be easy to achieve the government’s ambitions. In recent years, construction costs have gone up by over 7 per cent a year, skills shortages have worsened and the infrastructure costs of both green and brownfield developments have exceeded Council’s revenue and borrowing capacity.

“Council will assist the government wherever it can with planning and building consent needs, and work with government through its development arm, Panuku, and the Mayoral Housing Taskforce, to meet the challenges of increasing the pace and scale of building in Auckland.

“Tackling Auckland’s housing needs is key to addressing some of the country’s most pressing social needs and achieving more affordable homes will take pressure of house prices across the country,” Phil Goff said.

ENDS

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