Act wants to establish a Public-Private Partnerships agency by merging Crown Infrastructure Partners and the Infrastructure Commission. The new entity would be given a "mandate to seek and secure private capital for new infrastructure projects to get things built".
Infrastructure spokesman Simon Court said the new agency would be called the "Nation-Building Agency" or NBA, and said it would "supercharge" investment in infrastructure.
Cash-strapped councils would be given a carrot to ensure they didn't stand in the way of new infrastructure projects. Act would share half of the GST revenue earned from building a new house with whichever local council issued that house's consent.
Housing spokeswoman Brooke van Velden said the party estimated the scheme would deliver "$1 billion every year to support local development enabling infrastructure".
"Councils that consent more, get more," she said.
The final policy would make it easier for foreign investors to finance build-to-rent developments, where investors would build new housing with a view to renting it to tenants long-term, rather than selling it on. Existing foreign-ownership rules, have led to an underdeveloped build-to-rent sector in New Zealand.
Act wants to give build-to-rent housing the same exemption that investors in retirement villages and students hostels currently receive.
"The beauty of exempting build-to-rent from overseas investment restrictions is that it increases the rental stock by funding more stock but does not allow overseas investors to bid up the price of existing homes," van Velden said.
"The Government should be easing the way for builders of high-quality housing, not getting in the way. Build-to-rent provides stable opportunities for renters all around New Zealand.
Act has already said it would scrap the RMA and replace it with two new pieces of legislation, one which would be focus on environmental protection and another that would regulate urban development. Its housing discussion document recommitted to those policies on Monday.
Act is not alone in looking at ideas like infrastructure financing, PPPs, and GST-sharing. The Government has been using Crown Infrastructure Partners to fund infrastructure at Milldale in Auckland, although that is not a full PPP.
National's local government spokesman Chris Luxon has also floated the idea of GST sharing with councils. Although his idea is based on letting councils keep the GST that's collected on rates, rather than using GST-sharing to incentivise development.
The Government has also made noises about encouraging more build-to-rent in New Zealand. Housing Minister Megan Woods has previously admitted that "build-to-rent for affordable long term affordable rentals is something that is conspicuous by its absence in the New Zealand market, that you see in most advanced economies".
However, the Government has yet to make any significant policy change to make the foreign investment rules clearer and more encouraging for investors.
Act is touring its housing proposals around the country as part of its "Honest Conversations" campaign.
Seymour said his package would " solve the underlying problem in housing," which is the shortage of urban land for development.
"We need new ways to fund and build infrastructure, new coordination between central and local government, new rules for consenting land, and new ways of accessing building materials," he said.
