Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill passes
The Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill passed its third reading in Parliament on Thursday by 63 votes to 56 and will come into effect Monday 16 September.
"This new law will deliver tens of thousands of new homes. The increased land supply will help take the pressure off the over-heated Auckland housing market and help the economic recovery. It will enable tens of thousands of kiwi families to realise the dream of owning their own home," Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.
"The game changer in this new law is the unblocking of the constipated planning system. It will enable plan changes and resource consents to be processed simultaneously. It will over-ride Auckland's Metropolitan Urban Limit. It will enable low-rise greenfield developments to be consented in six months, when they previously took three years, and low-rise brownfield developments to be consented in three months, when they previously took a year."
"The Auckland Housing Accord will be the first to be recognised under this new Act. It will enable the Auckland Council to get on and consent the least contentious 39,000 homes of the 400,000 identified in its draft Unitary Plan, rather than waiting three years for it to become operative."
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