More affordable housing

MY COMMITMENT TO YOU

Too many Wellingtonians are spending the majority of their income just on housing. If we want our city to be affordable for everyone we need thousands more homes in the heart of our city.

I’m doubling down on my commitment to housing affordability with a reformed ratings system, a new plan for infrastructure investments, and a strategic review of the consenting and compliance functions to make building easier.

Rates reform to encourage more housing

My plan for rates reform will:

  • Reduce rates for approximately 60% of Wellingtonians

  • Encourage efficient land use and greater housing development

  • Discourage unproductive land banking

Wellington has a unique urban form that encourages compact living and creates walkable neighbourhoods right on the border of our town belt. Wellington is surrounded by forests and ocean, leaving us with a short supply of land to build on. It’s important that we use our land effectively and efficiently.

Right now our ratings system disincentives density and harms our ability to build more affordable homes near people’s work, public transport, and our parks. Land bankers are holding our city back, denying Wellington opportunities for productive use of land and an inclusive economy.

A switch from capital value rates to land value rates would see empty lots in the central city paying more, and apartment owners paying less. This incentivises those who are land banking in our city to switch to building new housing in the places we need it most. Approximately 60% of Wellingtonians would pay relatively less in rates.

Targeting infrastructure investment to support growth

My plan for investment will see:

  • More efficient investment in our water infrastructure

  • Better value for money across our investments

  • A long term plan to avoid us repeating history and creating another infrastructure deficit

For decades Wellington has not been investing in the infrastructure the city needs to support our growing population.

Over the last term, we’ve turned that ship around. Now is the time to make sure that we are investing that money wisely to maximise the number of homes that can be built across Wellington.

We have a better understanding of where development happens now than we have ever had before. Using this information, and the planning we’ve already led through the district plan, we can strategically plan for growth and deliver infrastructure in a way that keeps costs down for Wellingtonians.

The best way to reduce the pressure on rates for all Wellingtonians is to have more people living here. By building an investment plan for our infrastructure focused on enabling more housing we can buck the trend of rapidly increasing rates.

Faster and easier housing consents

We’ve already permitted thousands more homes throughout the city, but in order for those homes to be built they have to go through our compliance checks.

We’ve expanded what’s possible through the district plan and now’s the time to make sure our consenting functions aren’t holding us back.

While the Coalition Government’s cancelled housing projects have left the construction industry in a slump, we can make Wellington an attractive and easier place to build new homes.

I’m pledging to undertake a strategic review of the Councils Consenting and Compliance functions to make sure that we’re actually enabling the housing that we need.

Collaborating to deliver more social housing

Delivering more social housing in Wellington will require strong partnerships. With the Coalition Government cutting hundreds of Kāinga Ora developments the need for social housing in Wellington is even greater.

We’ll work together with Iwi, Community Housing Providers and Non-Governmental Organisations to deliver homes in a targeted way for the communities that need them.