Q+A: Housing Minister Nick Smith interviewed by Corin Dann

Housing Minister Nick Smith told TV One’s Q+A programme that new policies under the Resource Management Act will soon be announced aimed at requiring councils to unlock more land for housing.

‘but I’m also upping the ante. Next month I will be producing a national policy directive under the RMA that will put far tougher requirements on growing councils to ensure that they are freeing up long term the land that is required so that we don’t get into the sort of juggernaut that has been at the core of the unaffordable housing problems in Auckland.’

Minister Nick Smith told Corin Dann that the Unitary Plan is hugely important for Auckland.

‘And if we’re going to solve the problem in Auckland, it can’t be the sort of binary choice – is it up or is it out? It’s actually both.’

The Minister also warned property investors that if they think they can avoid paying tax on their investment they will ‘get a very nasty surprise.’

‘If you buy property with the intention of making a profit on its resale, you’re required to pay the tax and, watch out, IRD has now got your tax number and so they’re going to be very easily able to track every property that’s bought and sold for investment purposes. And in my view, we’ve also invested that big lock of investment – people who are pretending they can make those investments in housing markets in Auckland without paying tax are going to get a very nasty surprise.’

When asked about the data on foreign buyers released by LINZ this week Dr Smith said, ‘in my view, looking at that data, dispels the myth that there is any substantive play by overseas persons in the property market.’

Q+A, 9-10am Sundays on TV ONE and one hour later on TV ONE plus 1. Repeated Sunday evening at 11:35pm. Streamed live at www.tvnz.co.nz

Thanks to the support from NZ On Air.

Q+A is on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/NZQandA#!/NZQandA and on Twitter, http://twitter.com/#!/NZQandA

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