A Government-ordered review has called to replace New Zealand’s outdated, linchpin rulebook for the environment with two new ones. The independent review, commissioned by Environment Minister David Parker, explored what to do about the regulatory system built around the 30-year-old Resource Management Act (RMA).
It proposed starting over with two fresh pieces of legislation; a Natural and Built Environments Act and a Strategic Planning Act.
It’s hard to justify having 78 councils, all with their own take on the RMA, making new development difficult, expensive and long winded at a time when we need more affordable housing and we need to secure jobs.
The construction industry in New Zealand contributes significantly to the country’s economy. In the first quarter of 2020, over 184 thousand people were employed in this industry – a significant increase from just a decade prior. The GDP contribution similarly reached over 15 billion New Zealand dollars in 2019.
The Master Builder’s Association is so concerned about the possible drop off in work for it’s builders that it is proposing the government implement a $50,000 subsidy for new builds.
We need to get consenting sorted out in NZ. In the past 16 years that we have been building residential investment property the time to obtain a consent for a standard development of 6-10 houses has increased from approximately 6 weeks to close to 6 months. The documentation required for all of the consents needed to develop infill housing has increased from about 40-50 pages of information to over 200. We seem to making the consenting process harder and harder, and for no obvious benefit. It looks as though the system is simply feeding on itself, making consents more expensive, more time consuming and more frustrating. All of this ultimately leads to higher house prices.
John Kenel
Assured Property
#assuredproperty #housing #rentals #propertyinvestment
