Housing & Infrastructure

New Zealand needs more homes and the roads, pipes and power connections that support them. But people who want to build face years of delay while councils carry the upfront cost of growth. Families pay through higher rents, bigger mortgages and longer commutes.

ACT believes people should be free to build on their property unless they cause material harm to somebody else or the natural environment. Councils need practical ways to fund growth, and people who add to the demand for infrastructure should make a fair contribution.

In Government, ACT has helped open the building-products market, reward councils that consent new homes and advance the replacement of the RMA with a property-rights-based system. ACT's new commitments would give innovators a clear route through outdated regulation and require temporary workers to contribute to infrastructure from their first day in New Zealand.