Bipartisan housing policy flawed: Seymour

AUCKLAND: National and Labour’s radical new housing policy will create division and resentment in the community and risks failure, Act New Zealand leader David Seymour says.

‘‘People are likely to be disappointed.

‘‘They will conclude that National and Labour have both fouled up housing by themselves, but now, with their powers combined, they’re going to foul it up beyond all recognition,’’ he said.

Mr Seymour has written to the Labour Party and the National Party, who have joined forces in a rare act of unity to tackle the housing crisis and come up with a plan consultants believe will see many as 105,500 extra new homes built in less than a decade.

The Government said the Housing Supply Bill would allow up to three homes of up to three storeys built on most sites without the need for a costly and frustrating resource consent.

The plan has received a cool response at the Auckland Council where the number of new housing consents being issued is high.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has credited the Unitary Plan, the planning blueprint for the city since 2016 allowing for 420,000 new homes, with boosting housing supply.

‘‘Building consents issued, around 20,000 in the last year, are the highest in the city’s history,’’ Mr Goff, who wanted the plans to be balanced against Aucklanders’ desire to retain the city’s heritage and character, said.

Mr Seymour, who is the MP for Epsom, agreed there was a major problem with housing affordability and was pleased to see a supply solution promised.

However, he said Labour and National were in danger of failing to deliver on their promise, while creating division and resentment in the community.

‘‘They need to focus on infrastructure and pull the zoning changes back to a level supported by their own modelling.

‘‘Labour and National have promised the public that they will deliver homes, and that they’ll work together to achieve it. Unfortunately their solution ignores the real problem of infrastructure funding,’’ he said.

Mr Seymour said that since the announcement, it had become clear there was no consultation and now the Bill would go through under urgency, with only a threeweek select committee process, meaning there was little opportunity for developers or councils to give feedback.

He said Act had three proposals to improve the legislation:

Pay councils 50% of the GST for every new house to cover some of the costs that fall on them, changing development from being a source of cost to a source of revenue.

Tap into private sector investment for new, publicprivate partnership for infrastructure, including immediately fast tracking and seeking proposals under the Infrastructure and Financing Act.

Abandon the Government’s new rules for the mixed housing zone (MHS) rules in the Auckland Unitary Plan.

‘‘The legislation should simply require that zones with lower intensity than those that currently exist are upzoned to MHS and, in cities where such a zone does not exist, use the MHS zone.’’ — The