KEY POINTS:
Auckland is on the right track to more affordable housing by increasing the density of settlement, says the Berl economic consultancy.
This message clashes with mounting criticism of the Auckland Regional Council's push to beef up cities and town centres at the expense of "greenfield" growth outside urban limits.
Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis, Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey and sections of the development industry say creation of metropolitan urban limits has led to a shortage of new business and housing land and put up prices.
But Kel Sanderson of Berl says continuing the regional growth strategy's objective of developing a compact urban region around transport corridor nodes will inevitably increase the urban density.
"With increased urban density the regional economy is more productive and the housing can be more affordable," he says in a report commissioned by the ARC for the panel of commissioners who are considering growth issues as a part of proposed plan changes to the district plans of seven councils.
Mr Sanderson says that, in areas of Auckland with higher residential density, the land value per resident is lower, even though the land value per hectare is higher.
Northeast Onehunga, Mt Eden and Puhunui have 35 to 45 residents per hectare and land worth about $125,000 is required for each resident.
This is only about 60 per cent of the land value of $205,000 required by each resident in the Te Atatu Central, Chelsea and Takanini areas, which have lower densities of five to 15 residents per hectare.
Mr Sanderson says housing can be more affordable in higher density areas for two reasons.
The land value is lower per resident than in lower density areas and high productivity in the area can allow incomes to be higher than in lower density areas.
"Additionally, in higher density areas we would expect some other costs of housing and living to be lower. For example, the cost of providing infrastructure networks would be lower per resident."
Transport costs should be lower with better access to workplaces and access to lower cost transport modes such as public transport.
The Herald reported yesterday that the Motu consultancy report released by the Centre for Housing Research examined the effects of abolishing Auckland's metropolitan urban limit and freeing land for development.
