Property

Private sales part of HNZ build programme

Housing New Zealand will be ramping up its building programme – and part of the funding for this will come from private sector sales, the government has confirmed.

Thursday, October 20th 2016

Finance Minister Bill English

Recent indications from Finance Minister Bill English that the government would be increasing its house building programme have been made official.

English, and Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett, have announced that Housing New Zealand lodged 60 resource consent applications in the last quarter.

If these consents are approved, it will pave the way for Housing New Zealand to build 1297 new houses in Auckland which could accommodate more than 3200 people in 20 suburbs.

English said the majority of the $440 million worth of developments are allowed for under the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act legislation.

Alongside the various Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas, the Auckland Unitary Plan provides for around 30,000 new houses on Housing New Zealand land, he said.

“As we’ve been signalling for some time, the government has a comprehensive housing programme that will deliver housing supply at scale to the Auckland market.

“Housing New Zealand is in a sound financial position and is gearing up to deliver large scale redevelopments across the city.”

The redevelopments would be similar to a much-publicised Housing New Zealand redevelopment in Northcote where about 300 existing houses will be redeveloped into about 1200.

In that development the Housing New Zealand homes will increase from 300 to 400, while a further 600-800 properties will be sold as a mix of affordable and market housing.

This model is set to be employed in other redevelopments.

Bennett said that while the majority of the newly consented houses will be retained by Housing New Zealand, a proportion will not be.

The government has more properties coming on-stream all the time, big and small developments, and this is being ramped up, she said.

“We’ll have more Housing New Zealand homes but, equally, we’ll be opening up more affordable and market housing.”

The announcement follows speculation last week that Housing New Zealand was in financial dire straits.

This was prompted by a Treasury paper which showed Housing New Zealand was due to run out of cash for development and maintenance by February 2017.

However, English has dismissed this, saying the Treasury projection was because Housing New Zealand was ramping up its building programme from 300 new houses a year to between 1000 and 2000.

English said he could give “complete reassurance” the government will fund the costs for the increase in Housing New Zealand’s building programme.

The funding is set to come from various avenues – including the sale of former state houses in areas like Tauranga and the private sector sale of some of the houses in Housing New Zealand’s redevelopments.

 

Comments

No comments yet

Heartland Bank - Online 6.69
SBS FirstHome Combo 6.74
Wairarapa Building Society 6.95
Unity 6.99
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special 7.04
ICBC 7.05
China Construction Bank 7.09
BNZ - Classic 7.24
ASB Bank 7.24
ANZ Special 7.24
TSB Special 7.24
Unity First Home Buyer special 6.45
Heartland Bank - Online 6.45
China Construction Bank 6.75
TSB Special 6.75
ICBC 6.75
ANZ Special 6.79
ASB Bank 6.79
AIA - Go Home Loans 6.79
Kiwibank Special 6.79
BNZ - Classic 6.79
Unity 6.79
Westpac Special 6.39
China Construction Bank 6.40
ICBC 6.49
SBS Bank Special 6.55
Kiwibank Special 6.55
BNZ - Classic 6.55
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 6.55
ASB Bank 6.55
AIA - Go Home Loans 6.55
TSB Special 6.59
Kainga Ora 6.99
SBS FirstHome Combo 6.19
AIA - Back My Build 6.19
ANZ Blueprint to Build 7.39
Credit Union Auckland 7.70
ICBC 7.85
Heartland Bank - Online 7.99
Pepper Money Essential 8.29
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 8.40
Co-operative Bank - Standard 8.40
First Credit Union Standard 8.50
Kiwibank 8.50

More Stories

Support for regulation

Monday, March 18th 2024

Support for regulation

REINZ has emphasised the need for property management regulation to Parliament’s Social Services and Community Committee.

A better investment market

Thursday, March 14th 2024

A better investment market

“Reinstatement of interest deductibility starting from the new tax year on 1 April brings property investors back in line with every other business in the country, where interest costs are a legitimate deductible expense," Tim Horsbrugh, New Zealand Property Investors Federation (NZPIF) executive committee member says.

[OPINION] Recessionary times

Thursday, March 14th 2024

[OPINION] Recessionary times

It is not the best out there for many businesses and property sector people. Sales are down across the board, our clients’ confidence is falling, and there is a lot of uncertainty.

Interest rate expectations: It’s not over yet

Thursday, March 07th 2024

Interest rate expectations: It’s not over yet

Most Kiwis think interest rate increases have peaked.