NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Gary Taylor: Radical moves needed on housing

By Gary Taylor
Other·
30 Oct, 2012 04:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The Hobsonville Point development provides a mix of housing types and excellent transport links. Photo / Dean Purcell

The Hobsonville Point development provides a mix of housing types and excellent transport links. Photo / Dean Purcell

Opinion

If we are to build the vast number of houses required in Auckland, we require a new approach - and quickly.

The challenge facing Auckland is not just of making housing more affordable but actually building enough houses. That's beyond the capacity of the present building market and will require a radically different approach.

The Government's new housing policy announcement signals some rapprochement between it and the Auckland Council.

Over the next 30 years the population will expand by one million, requiring an additional 400,000 dwellings - an average of 13,000 dwellings per year, every year, for 30 years.

Two-thirds of that growth is expected from births and internal migration from the rest of New Zealand with the balance from immigration. Buying preferences will likely continue to diversify along with the cultural make-up of Auckland.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Auckland Plan proposes 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the city's growth will be greenfields (subdivision of farmland) and 60 per cent to 70 per cent infill (within existing suburbs). The Government appears to have accepted that mix.

There are good reasons for maintaining a rural-urban boundary as proposed by the council and accepted by the Government. It will lead to a smaller environmental footprint and a more energy and transport efficient urban form.

But the infill target will be tough to meet using traditional approaches. It's hard to imagine around 8000 houses a year coming from infill without new drivers.

Even the smaller greenfields target is heroic. The biggest new residential development under way - Hobsonville Point - is providing 3000 new dwellings. But we need 5000 greenfields units a year.

New Zealand's building sector, as the Productivity Commission Report shows, and as the Government has accepted, is expensive partly because of its small scale and use of predominantly bespoke designs. Labour costs are more than in Australia and there's not a lot of spare skilled labour available because of the Christchurch rebuild.

Building material costs are also significantly higher than in Australia. The commission's report cited the lack of competition and dominance of Fletcher Building (which both makes and retails products) but decided to do nothing about it. The Government has decided to further investigate "supply chain" issues.

Discover more

Opinion

Editorial: Tax change would help ease housing

29 Oct 04:30 PM
Business

Govt land moves welcomed by builders

29 Oct 04:30 PM
Opinion

John Armstrong: National's affordable housing package lacks any substantial detail

29 Oct 08:30 PM
Opinion

Govt housing plan misses mark

31 Oct 04:30 PM

What is needed is for the Government and the Auckland Council to take the lead and create housing development authorities that can plan and build at the scale required. The Government has signalled an acceptance of this approach.

The Hobsonville Land Company is a model that could be followed. It's a Housing New Zealand subsidiary with a private-sector partner, AV Jennings, a large and experienced Australian house builder, with risks shared between the two entities. The Auckland Council is developing a Marine Industry Precinct at Hobsonville as its contribution.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hobsonville Point has many attributes we want to see: higher density, high amenity, energy-efficient dwellings, a mix of housing types and excellent transport links.

The Tamaki Restoration Project, a joint venture between Government and the council, is a brownfields development on a similar partnership model.

Both examples use the combined resources of the state and the council to lead development while drawing on private-sector partners and strong commercial disciplines. This approach needs to be rolled out across Auckland - and quickly.

So how to do that? The council should broaden the scope and capacity of its subsidiary, Auckland Council Property, to masterplan and lead a number of large-scale housing developments. That will require seed capital but should be self-funding over time - as Hobsonville Point has confirmed. Some developments could be done with the Government as a partner, others not. All will need private sector involvement.

Similar entities overseas have mandated a proportion of affordable housing to be included in each development. We could do that here, as well as developing new assistance packages for first-time buyers.

The big issue is whether home ownership is sustainable at today's levels. The experience overseas is that, as cities grow, long-term renting is increasingly preferred over traditional home ownership. We are seeing that trend here and we can expect it to continue.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But if we don't build enough dwellings, then housing, whether for ownership or rental, will become less and less available. It's pleasing to see the Government acknowledge the market doesn't have enough grunt to deliver without central and local government involvement.

Gary Taylor is the chairman of the Environmental Defence Society and a former director of the Hobsonville Land Company.

Dialogue Contributions are welcome and should be 600-800 words. Send your submission to dialogue@nzherald.co.nz. Text may be edited and used in digital formats as well as on paper.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
Banking and finance

$13b risk prompts Govt to back controversial bank law change

24 Jun 04:00 AM
New Zealand

The Australian-born rising rugby star beating the odds

24 Jun 04:00 AM
New ZealandUpdated

'Good down here': Neighbours shocked after human remains found in front yard

24 Jun 03:48 AM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
$13b risk prompts Govt to back controversial bank law change

$13b risk prompts Govt to back controversial bank law change

24 Jun 04:00 AM

Banks are to benefit from the controversial decision.

The Australian-born rising rugby star beating the odds

The Australian-born rising rugby star beating the odds

24 Jun 04:00 AM
'Good down here': Neighbours shocked after human remains found in front yard

'Good down here': Neighbours shocked after human remains found in front yard

24 Jun 03:48 AM
Fatal hit-and-run: Police hunt motorcyclist with full leg tattoo

Fatal hit-and-run: Police hunt motorcyclist with full leg tattoo

24 Jun 03:34 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP