In the New Zealand Herald, columnist Brian Rudman finds that when it comes to affordability, Auckland and Vancouver are “bizarrely alike”:
Mayor Len Brown is encouraging us to study Vancouver’s experience of urban intensification, which is, he says, a model of “urban density done well”.
One problem Mr Brown’s Canadian showcase does share with Auckland, though, is the burning problem of housing affordability. …
It’s not just the ailment either. The blame game has a very Auckland flavour. …
One key point is that leaving it to the market to come up with a fair solution won’t work. Agreeing that “lower development costs only translate into lower prices and rents when there is sufficient supply and competition in the marketplace,” the authors (of the Vancouver Mayor’s Task Force on Housing Affordability) admit that “reducing development costs will not necessarily translate directly into lower house prices and rents without specific mechanisms to ensure those savings are passed on to purchasers and renters”.
In other words, it needs a carrot and stick approach by the city and Government, to encourage the building of affordable housing – both for rental and for sale. The report adds that increasing rental stock would achieve both immediate and long-term affordability. “Here, the city can take steps to lock in affordability for the long term, using both financial and regulatory tools.”
It concludes the best opportunity to increase the supply of affordable housing is by creating new complete communities on large sites. This can be achieved by partnerships between the private sector, non-profit groups and the city. It says the city’s existing requirement that developers set aside 20 per cent of land for affordable housing is dependent on senior government funding, “which often has not materialised.”
The solution is that developers of new neighbourhoods be required to provide rental or affordable ownership units in a mix that better matches the broad needs of the community, particularly low and moderate income households.
Full column here – thanks to Scot Bathgate.
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UPDATE: Co-Exist features “this fun web game to try to figure out how to cram an additional million people into the growing New Zealand city of Auckland.” Go here.
