The Productivity Commission completed its inquiry into using land for housing, and presented its final report and recommendations to Government in 2015.
The inquiry#
The Government asked the Commission to examine the processes and practices of local planning and development systems across New Zealand's faster-growing urban areas. The brief asked that the inquiry identify councils that are effective in making enough land available to meet housing demand and processes that could be adopted more widely. The Commission also examined overseas approaches to identify leading practices that could provide valuable lessons for New Zealand.
Key recommendations#
The Commission found the operation of planning systems needs to change if New Zealand cities are to have enough land for housing.
The final report, the Commission made a number of recommendations to increase the responsiveness of planning to demand, including better cost-recovery for infrastructure, proper cost-benefit analysis before planning rules are introduced, and more support from central government to help councils develop higher-intensity housing on inner-city sites.
The Commission recommended that councils and the government need to create a credible commitment to release and service more land and to bring land price inflation under control.
A sufficient supply of land for housing, an adequate supply of affordable housing, and the effective functioning of our cities, are topics of national importance. Central government has a legitimate interest in resolving those issues, where local councils cannot.
Government response#
In August 2016, the Government announced its response to the Commission's inquiry into Using land for housing. Included in the response was the development of a National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity and the creation of the Housing Infrastructure Fund.
Insights into local government#
In 2020 the Productivity Commission released Local government insights report informed by this inquiry. Understand the major challenges for both local and central government, what they need to get right, how to do things differently and the benefits of making these changes.
This report brought together the learnings of five of the Commission's inquiries into local government performance: Local government funding and financing (2019); Better urban planning (2017); Using land for housing (2015); Towards better local regulation (2013); and Housing affordability (2012).
Timeline#
- Terms of reference - September 2014
- Consultation and engagement starts
- Issues paper - 5 November 2014
- Submissions closed 22 December 2014
- Draft report - 17 June 2015
- Submissions closed 4 August 2015
- Final report - 21 October 2015
- Evaluation - December 2015
- Government response - 19 August 2016
Key documents#
Final report and Government response#
Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
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Government of New Zealand | ||
Government of New Zealand | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission |
Terms of reference and issues paper#
Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
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New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
Minister of Finance |
Research#
Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
---|---|---|
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Institute for Economic Research |
Draft report#
Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
---|---|---|
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission |
Submissions#
Public submissions on issues paper - Using land for housing
Public submissions on draft report - Using land for housing
Evaluation#
Doc. Date Sort ascending | Creator | Title |
---|---|---|
Spencer, Kathy | ||
Laking, Rob | ||
New Zealand Productivity Commission |