Council committed to options not value cutting

Auckland City Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse told landlords.co.nz that the Council’s commitment to targeting the housing affordability ratio has been sensationalised by the media.

The Auckland Development Committee recently endorsed a recommendation from the Council’s chief economist, Chris Parker, to bring down the median home purchase price-to-median household income to five to one by 2030.

Hulse said that no-one should think the Council is going to try and halve the current prices of existing Auckland houses.

However, a combination of the SuperCity’s huge growth pressures, decreasing housing affordability and a supply shortage, mean it is essential to develop a range of more affordable housing options for the future.

“We need to make it easier for developers to build the variety of house choices that people increasingly need and that they will be able to afford.

“This does mean intensification – as there are wider costs to Auckland if the city just keeps going out and out – and it includes terraced houses, apartments, and smaller houses.”

While the issues that Auckland is struggling with are complex and there is no silver bullet, Parker’s comprehensive Housing Supply, Choice and Affordability report was helpful, Hulse said.

“There is a lot to encompass in the report but it lays out what can be done practically. Now, we know that we can address those supply and demand issues and how we need to go about doing so.”

Besides endorsing the affordability target, to date the Council has made no further decisions on which of Parker’s recommendations to action.

A cross-Council committee is working through the recommendations and is due to report back to Council, on what to action promptly, in mid-December.

In Hulse’s view, it is the Unitary Plan which will be key to dealing with Auckland’s housing development.

The Unitary Plan is still wending its way through the Independent Hearings Panel process and hearings are not due to be completed until April 2016.

A final decision on the Unitary Plan is then due before the local government elections in October 2016.

However, Hulse said there a noticeable turnaround in community perspectives on the Unitary Plan, including on the need for intensification.

“Even communities which were opposed to these concepts before have become more understanding of the wider social implications for a city that doesn’t provide more affordable types of housing.”

This was probably due to extensive coverage of Auckland’s housing issues and prices appreciation, along with personal experiences of the type of issue that could arise.

For example, baby-boomer parents who want their adult children to stay in Auckland but who have realised that current house prices mean they won’t be able to.

But good urban design for the necessary development is non-negotiable, Hulse said.

“We are not going to let go of the vision to build a better community. Creating more affordable housing options is not just about fitting more people into the space available.”

To this end, the Council is working with central Government, as well as the development community and the social housing sector, to try and deal with the various supply issues facing Auckland.

Hulse said the Council is working with some developers who are doing good, innovative work on the provision of different housing product (rental, affordable, etc).

“We are trying to establish exactly what we need to do to help them best achieve that goal.”