Promise of more homes

The speed and scale of new house building in Auckland is set to ramp up as local and central Government join forces to address the supercity’s housing crisis.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford and Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa met with Auckland mayor Phil Goff and deputy mayor Bill Cashmore on March 8 to commit to developing improved housing policy to better address housing shortages and unaffordability in Auckland.

Elements of the Building Act, the Building Code and the building product assurance system will be put under the microscope to ensure more homes can be delivered in Auckland.

Goff said a focus would be put on innovation in construction ‘‘most notably modular, offsite and pre-fab construction for medium density housing’’.

Transport and infrastructure would also be a priority, he said.

The parties agreed the Government would work alongside Auckland Council to deliver on recommendations set out in the Mayor’s Housing Taskforce in 2017, including freeing up more land, building through economic dips and enabling innovation and efficiency in consenting.

The taskforce will assist with the delivery of the Government’s KiwiBuild programme in Auckland.

‘‘Focus would be put on innovation in construction most notably modular, offsite and pre-fab construction for medium density housing’’

Auckland mayor Phil Goff