A newly announced urban development authority - Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities – has the potential to address our housing crisis, but shouldn’t put regional New Zealand in its blind spot says LGNZ President Dave Cull.

LGNZ broadly welcomes this initiative to address the housing shortage in some of our fasting growing areas, where red tape has choked both the market and local government’s ability to provide the houses that our citizens need.

“The establishment of Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities is a further recognition from the government that our current housing regulations are not fit for purpose,” says LGNZ President Dave Cull.

LGNZ believes the challenge will be extending the work beyond the big cities, recognising that one agency, even with the firepower of Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities, cannot meet the housing needs across the whole country.

“While we recognise that the housing supply problem is most acute in Auckland, it is actually a nationwide problem. Housing affordability is as much a challenge to the people that live in places like Nelson, Invercargill, and Taupō, as it is to the residents of Auckland, Tauranga and Queenstown.”

Local Government New Zealand has long maintained that the only way to do that is to do root and branch reform of our urban planning and building sector legislation, and that the regulatory workarounds being extended to the UDA need to be extended to the rest of New Zealand’s communities as well.

“We look forward to working with the Minister and the new ministry on this initiative, to ensure that we have a fit for purpose regulatory regime in place that ensures New Zealanders have access to affordable housing – be they home owners or renters.”

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