Media release: LGNZ takes the first steps to housing affordability
Wellington (21 July 2015): If we want to fix housing affordability, we have to make sure that growing cities are in local government’s financial interest.
The New Zealand Initiative today welcomed Local Government New Zealand’s Local Government Funding Review.
The Initiative’s Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich said, “Five years ago, nobody could agree on the source of housing affordability problems. Since then, we have achieved broad-based agreement that land supply issues around zoning are the root of the problem. Now it is time to start talking about solutions. The LGNZ report on Local Government Funding is a great start.”
The LGNZ review urges changes to local government finances and to central government regulatory practice. On the whole, they seek to make it easier for councils to pursue growth, both by providing direct financial incentives encouraging it, and by reducing the regulatory burden that can make it harder for Councils to accommodate growth.
“LGNZ suggests that policy changes take a local flavour. Instead of rolling out RMA reform across the whole country, why not apply different versions in different districts? Local councils often know the regulatory blockages that they are facing, but where different places need different things, one-size-fits-all policy does not work,” suggested the Initiative’s Head of Research, Dr Eric Crampton.
“We at the Initiative first suggested this kind of regionalised policy last September and are excited by the support it has since received.”
The New Zealand Initiative’s report on Special Economic Zones, authored by Eric Crampton and Khyaati Acharya, will be released later this year. Prior Initiative reports have explained how council rules blocking densification and urban expansion have caused New Zealand’s housing affordability problem.
“We hope that the government will seriously consider policies that make it easier for councils to go for growth. We won’t solve the country’s housing affordability problem until councils find it in their interest to remove the zoning rules that have put home ownership out of too many families’ reach,” Dr Hartwich concluded.
The New Zealand Initiative's previous reports on housing affordability and local government include:
- Empty Nests, Crowded Houses: Building for an ageing population
- Up or Out? Examining the Trade-offs of Urban Form
- Free to Build: Restoring New Zealand’s Housing Affordability
- Different Places, Different Means: Why Some Countries Build More Than Others
- Priced Out! How New Zealand Lost Its Housing Affordability
- A Global Perspective on Localism
ENDS
Dr Eric Crampton and Dr Oliver Hartwich are available for comment.
About The New Zealand Initiative
The New Zealand Initiative is an evidence-based think tank and research institute, which is supported by a membership organisation that counts some of the country’s leading visionaries, business leaders and political thinkers among its ranks.
Our members are committed to developing policies to make New Zealand a better country for all its citizens. We believe all New Zealanders deserve a world-class education system, affordable housing, a healthy environment, sound public finances and a stable currency.
The New Zealand Initiative pursues this goal by participating in public life, and making a contribution to public discussions.
For more information visit www.nzinitiative.org.nz.