“Labour and National have today voted against adding infrastructure funding to their joint housing bill”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“ACT today asked the Environment Committee to write to the Business Committee requesting that the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill become an omnibus bill so changes to infrastructure funding can be added.
“Our motion was voted down.
“Labour and National’s half-baked housing bill can’t succeed without adequate infrastructure funding.
“New Zealanders deserve better than Labour and National rushing it through Parliament under the cover of COVID-19 and Christmas.
“If Labour and National continue to rush the legislation, and changes aren’t made, the secret housing deal risks becoming KiwiBuild 2.0.
“Builders and councils say the real shortage is infrastructure – councils can’t afford it. It doesn't matter how many houses could be theoretically built if there’s no connections. Without more infrastructure, there won't be more houses in total, they'll just be in different places.
“ACT understands that building new homes comes with infrastructure costs. We have proposed local councils receive a payment equivalent to 50 per cent of the GST for every new dwelling constructed in its territory. This provides an incentive for councils to enable building and a means of covering infrastructure costs.
“We should also be tapping into private sector investment to fund new projects faster and at less cost. By using PPPs, the Government can limit the cost and risk taken on by taxpayers and councils.
“ACT wants to support good policy to solve the housing crisis. We can’t support the legislation as it currently stands. We urge Labour and National to take this opportunity to do what’s right and make urgently needed improvements to this policy. If not, they should dump it altogether.”