Phil Twyford’s housing and infrastructure announcement this morning is a positive step and shows just how redundant KiwiBuild is, says ACT Leader David Seymour.
The Government will partly fund the infrastructure for the 9000-home Milldale development and have Auckland Council repay it with a targeted rate on homeowners.
"Phil Twyford showed in opposition he understood the solution to the housing crisis, including freeing up more land and incentivising councils to plan for more housing.
"This morning’s announcement shows he still gets it. At the same time, it underlines what a joke KiwiBuild is – there is simply no need for a scheme which subsidises existing projects and hand off the gains to a qualifying subsection of voters.
"While Twyford’s announcement is positive, ACT’s existing policy is simpler and would be available to every council in the country.
"ACT would share a portion of GST revenue collected from the construction of new housing with the local council to incentivise them to approve planning of new homes.
"The shared revenue would help cover the cost of infrastructure like roads and water which councils must build to support new development. The cost of this infrastructure currently disincentivises approval of new houses and subdivisions.
"ACT would also allow councils to use more flexible funding mechanisms including special targeted rates on new developments, to pay for the new infrastructure."