Govt push to help councils free up land for housing

The latest results showed an average 33 per cent rise across the city.

The Government has asked the Productivity Commission to come up with a guide for councils on freeing up land for housing faster which they can use when special housing area legislation runs out in two years' time.

The commission -- which in a 2012 housing affordability study found land supply constraints were a key driver of high house prices -- has this week been asked by the Government to look at "potential improvements in local and regional authorities' land use regulation, planning and development systems".

The Government last year passed Special Housing Areas legislation to bypass council planning roadblocks and free up land for new subdivisions in a sharp response to the emerging housing shortage and rising prices, particularly in Auckland.

But Housing Minister Nick Smith said that legislation expired in about two years' time. He wanted councils to be in a position to continue to quickly release land for building after that.

"We've taken some short terms steps to try and unclog the pipe of housing supply but that does not answer the long term question as to how we move to best practice."

In a letter this week, Finance Minister Bill English told commission chairman Murray Sherwin to focus on "the delivery of adequate supply of development capacity for housing particularly in areas of urban growth".

The commission's findings would be "useful guidance" for councils, he said.

While National wants to pass amendments to the Resource Management Act (RMA) to free up land for building, Mr English told the commission its investigation should not be a fundamental review of the Act.

Dr Smith said the work done by the commission would be relevant even following the passage of National's RMA changes.

Councils had been given "a blank canvas" for their planning processes under the RMA and some had clearly set up more effective regulations and processes than others.

" We want to tease out what best practice is so councils can learn from that," Dr Smith said.

Mr English asked for a final report by September next year.

Local Government NZ President Lawrence Yule said his organisation welcomed the move "to identify restrictive legislation and regulations".

"The overall legislative and regulatory framework at both a central and local government level is cumbersome and does not enable agile planning, a factor highlighted in previous enquiries," he said.

But Labour housing spokesman Phil Twyford said the fact the Government was embarking on yet more research on the issue after six years in government "beggars belief".

"People need houses and they need the Government to take action now, not waste another year or two with yet more research."

Labour's plan to publish a national policy statement on affordable housing under the RMA would "give clear direction to councils that they must increase land supply for residential development and speed up consenting", Mr Twyford said.