Latest news with #GoingforHousingGrowth
Scoop
04-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Infrastructure Minister To Visit United States
Minister for Infrastructure Minister of Housing Minister of Transport Infrastructure, Transport and Housing Minister Chris Bishop will travel to New York and Texas tomorrow for a range of meetings across housing, planning, urban development and transport, including a keynote speech at the Urban Design Forum's Global Exchange Programme. 'In New York I will be holding a series of meetings with city officials and other stakeholders about their introduction of congestion pricing. The early results for New York are very promising, and with legislation allowing time of use charging schemes in New Zealand soon to report back from select committee, I look forward to bringing home lessons learned to ensure our scheme is a success from the start,' Mr Bishop says. "While in New York, I will meet with Professor Edward Glaeser, a leading global expert on urban economics, to discuss how governments can support affordable, thriving, and productive cities. I will also deliver a keynote speech at the Urban Design Forum's Global Exchange Programme, highlighting the Coalition Government's efforts to create a well-functioning urban land and housing system. The Forum is a network of over 1,000 civic leaders committed to making New York a better place to live - a goal I strongly share for New Zealand. 'I will also spend a couple of days in Houston, Texas, the home of affordable housing in the United States. My engagements will focus on conversations with government agencies and local experts about their planning system and funding and financing tools which have seen the city make significant gains in delivering affordable housing. 'The Government's 'Going for Housing Growth' policy draws lessons from the flexible land markets enabled by a liberal planning system in jurisdictions like Texas and I am looking forward to discussing this with local experts.' Mr Bishop departs for the United States on Saturday 5 July and will return on Sunday 13 July.
Scoop
18-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Collaboration Essential To Tackling Housing Challenges — LGNZ
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) says it is vital local and central government work together to address the country's housing issues, including incentivising councils to achieve housing growth. This follows the release of the Government's 'Going for Housing Growth' consultation document today, which outlines Pillar 1 of the Government's Going for Housing Growth programme. LGNZ Vice President Campbell Barry says that while many of the proposals are welcome, the time has come for the Government to establish a more positive relationship with councils on housing. 'It's clear that significant action is needed to address New Zealand's housing crisis, and some of what the Government is proposing is a positive step towards this,' says Campbell Barry. 'And while we understand and share the Government's concern around the issues that exist in the RMA space, it's not helpful or accurate to portray councils as the sole architects of New Zealand's housing crisis. 'Councils have faced ongoing uncertainty as planning rules have changed repeatedly; the RMA was replaced, then that system was repealed, there were promises and reversals on the Medium Density Residential Standards, multiple RMA amendments, and now another replacement is being rushed through. 'The goal posts for councils have been constantly shifted.' 'With the exception of Government giving itself power to intervene in plans, we're confident that councils will respond positively to these changes overall. But the Government also needs to give councils the chance to deliver before it imposes unnecessary constraints on local decision-making, such as the ability for Government to intervene directly to alter the structure of council plans.' Campbell Barry says that the best way to achieve housing outcomes is to stop disincentivising councils to allow for growth. 'It's important to acknowledge that many councils across the country have worked extremely hard to cater for growth, as they recognise the need for more housing and growth. 'If the Government wants to encourage the right behaviours in a sustainable way and build on its good work around development levies, it needs to follow through on introducing a share of GST on new builds to encourage councils to support growth — as well as other funding levers that enable housing growth. 'That would be a far better and more effective option than the Government threatening to veto council decisions. 'We look forward to engaging with the Government further to ensure local and central government work together, to address the housing issues that continue to plague our country'.
The Spinoff
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Spinoff
Housing market in holding pattern as budget day looms
With a number of policies already in place, the government looks set to give housing short shrift on Thursday – though speculation continues about an end to the foreign buyer ban, writes Catherine McGregor in today's extract from The Bulletin. Budget unlikely to deliver new housing spend With Budget 2025 set to be unveiled tomorrow, economists are warning not to expect a major new push on housing. 'They are already looking at the housing market in lots of other ways,' said Kelvin Davidson, chief economist at Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), pointing to a suite of supply-side initiatives such as the Going for Housing Growth programme, self-certification for builders and RMA reform. In the meantime, the housing market remains relatively subdued – a cooling that has opened up opportunities for first-home buyers. Speaking to OneRoof's Catherine Masters, Brad Olsen of Infometrics noted that tight fiscal settings mean any additional housing spend would likely be 'tinkering around the sides'. Davidson echoed the sentiment: 'The market's functioning OK.' Foreign buyer ban in the spotlight While housing may be absent from the budget's main stage, speculation continues to swirl around one politically charged topic: the potential lifting of New Zealand's foreign buyer ban. Introduced in 2018 under Labour, the ban prevents most overseas buyers from purchasing residential property, with exceptions only for Australians and Singaporeans. Now, agents in the luxury market are hoping budget day brings a change, with some even claiming they've heard from politicians that a reversal is imminent, OneRoof's Masters reports – though Act's David Seymour said 'there is no decision I'm aware of'. Still, pressure is mounting, particularly with the surge in applications under the revamped golden visa programme. US publication Bloomberg News (paywalled) quotes one agent reporting a 'tremendous amount of pent up demand' from wealthy Americans eyeing New Zealand as a haven. Many of them are already paying premium prices – up to $30,000 a week – to rent luxury properties here, reports RNZ's Rachel Helyer Donaldson. The surge in high-end rentals is the result of an emerging 'try-before-you-buy' strategy among clients awaiting clarity on the foreign buyer rules, an agent said. Renters told they have power – but do they? Outside of the luxury enclaves, the current rental market is described by many as a 'renter's market', with national rental listings at a 10-year high and landlords reportedly offering incentives such as a free week's rent or grocery vouchers. But the idea that tenants have their pick of great properties is far from the full story, writes Gabi Lardies in The Spinoff this morning. Tenants 'are in no position of power at all', said Angela Maynard of the Tenants Protection Association, citing the reinstatement of 90-day no-cause evictions as a major rollback of renter rights. Laura Drew of Community Law Wellington added that while rent increases may be slowing, poor-quality housing and a power imbalance remain entrenched. The term 'renter's market', she suggested, offers little comfort to those stuck in unsafe housing or locked into unaffordable fixed-term leases. Market hamstrung by planning and code constraints, says developer Even as the government touts its deregulatory reforms, many in the building sector argue that core structural issues remain unaddressed. The most high-profile critic is Ockham Residential co-founder Mark Todd, who just gave a fascinating interview to OneRoof's Diana Clement about why our planning rules continue to stifle the development of high-quality, high-density housing in New Zealand. It's not the RMA holding things back, but the Building Code, Todd argued. The code is 'an absolute regulation clusterfuck', he said – but most property developers like it that way. 'The Building Code as it is suits them, because they have no interest in building quality compact cities – they're in thrall to sprawl – and making the RMA a false bogeyman suits them too.'
