On RNZ today – PM’s housing plan moronic – economist
Prime Minister John Key’s suggestion that Auckland Council could be forced to free up more land for housing whenever homes became unaffordable in the city is already being criticised as misguided and unlikely to help the city’s housing woes
Mr Key hinted a price-to-income ratio could be used to force local authorities to release land for new housing if house prices climbed too far out of people’s reach.
He told Morning Report such a tool could be in the pipeline.
But critics said more land was not the answer to Auckland’s woes.
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said using a price-to-income ratio to control house prices was “moronic”.
“I don’t think it will work. The real challenge is, how do you pay for infrastructure? And how do you make sure that the land that is being released is being built on?”
There was already plenty of land supply but not enough homes and what was required were concrete ways to encourage more homes to be built, Mr Eaqub said.
It’s moronic because it isn’t a housing policy at all, it’s a blame deflecting plan – Housing game-changer: Spreading the blame
What’s become clear is that Auckland’s problem is no longer a land supply problem, it’s a house supply problem. The Special Housing Areas have opened up over 50,000 sections according to the government, but only 1000 houses have been built. Even Auckland Council estimates six and a half years worth of land is ready to build on. What’s missing is a will (or requirement) to build, tradie capacity and, arguably, a government commitment to a mass building programme.
Instead, what we’ve got from National seems to be an admission any fix on Auckland house prices is years away and what matters to them now is spreading the blame.
Blaming the council doesn’t build any houses and doesn’t get any families off the streets.
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