NZ Treasury: Government lacking Auckland land supply plan

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By Leith van Onselen

The New Zealand National Government’s single-minded focus on solving Auckland’s housing crisis by boosting supply has already taken a hammering courtesy of record immigration easily eclipsing dwelling construction, leading to worsening housing shortages.

Now an independent report prepared for Treasury that the Government tried to keep secret claims the Government lacks “an overall plan” in terms of land development and housing in Auckland. From Radio NZ:

The external review of the Social Housing Reform Programme noted that, in Auckland, three ministers and four government agencies lacked an overall plan to boost housing supply.

It found the government needed to “increase the overall supply of housing, particularly in Auckland”.

The 135-page review, done for Treasury, was finished in December 2015.

Last September, then-Minister of Social Housing Paula Bennett refused to release the report to RNZ.

She said to do so would “prejudice the quality of information received” and “the wider public interest of effective government would not be served”.
RNZ obtained the report only after an appeal to the Ombudsman under the Official Information Act.

Here’s more from Interest.co.nz:

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“Currently Treasury, MSD, MBIE and HNZC are all involved in a variety of initiatives that aim to bring under-utilised land into residential development with the objectives of increasing overall housing supply, of which proportions will be earmarked for affordable and social housing,” the report says.

“Lacking is an overall plan to coordinate and align strategies across agencies and to provide needed clarity and certainty to commercial and other stakeholders to enable them to effectively participate”…

Some of the many criticisms in the report in terms of the Government’s programme included:

  • Weak programme-level leadership with no single person or agency with clear accountability,
  • inadequate programme governance,
  • insufficient though improving programme management practices,
  • a fragmented delivery model,
  • the need for enhanced programme-level relationship and management communications,
  • the programme is under-weight in some important areas of expertise,
  • some areas are under-resourced,
  • there are inadequate programme level frameworks,
  • real time monitoring and evaluation needs to be implemented.

Among many recommendations, the report said the Government needed to agree to develop a 10 year plan for Auckland land development for both Housing New Zealand and Crown land “with a focus on how to create momentum in housing supply, balancing core financial, risk and social outcomes as a matter of urgency”.

The pressure continues to build on the incumbent National Government in the lead-up to the 23 September General Election.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.