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Medium-density housing
MBIE supporting MDH
A denser built environment will also require changes to some current Acceptable Solutions as they aren’t applicable for medium-density housing. That’s where MBIE comes in.
BY JO DOYLE, GENERAL MANAGER, HOUSING AND URBAN BRANCH, MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT
SINCE ITS establishment, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has focused on the complementary objectives of delivering higher-quality, more affordable housing for New Zealanders and helping shift the economy further towards more sustainable, higher-value, knowledge-based growth.
Our cities are key to generating the higher-value economic activity that New Zealand needs, re ecting the powerful advantages that concentrations of human capital bring. Successful cities develop, retain and attract the people and skills they need to grow and prosper.
Auckland the engine of growth
Auckland is projected to absorb 60% of New Zealand’s population growth, and it is critical that city in particular performs its role e ec- tively. However, long-standing issues with its housing market and the way it has managed urban growth have hampered that performance. New housing supply has been insu cient to meet population growth, pushing up house prices and rents. Importantly, there has also been a mismatch between the type and location of new housing supplied and the underlying demand.
In Auckland, the provision of medium-density housing (MDH) has been insu cient in the more central areas where land prices and preference studies suggest it is most in demand. The reasons for this are many and interconnected and include regulatory, infrastructure and sectoral — productivity, capacity and capability — constraints.
The result is constrained housing choices and reduced access for many households to the opportunities and advantages that living in a city should provide. This will have profound e ects on future prosperity and wellbeing and on the performance of Auckland and the New Zealand economy.
MBIE working to deliver KiwiBuild
MBIE is working closely with other agencies to deliver the new govern- ment’s housing and urban development work programme, which has at its heart the objective of creating thriving, accessible urban communities. KiwiBuild is the provision of 100,000 affordable homes
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For New Zealand to thrive, Auckland needs to grow, and that means more medium-density housing.
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