The Government published its Government Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development (GPS-HUD) earlier this week, ahead of the 1 October deadline.
The GPS-HUD is a multi-decade system strategy for housing and urban development. Its vision is, Everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand lives in a home and within a community that meets their needs and aspirations.
The GPS-HUD has six focus areas:
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Ensure more affordable homes are built
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Ensure houses meet needs
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Enable people into stable, affordable homes
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Support whānau to have safe, healthy affordable homes with secure tenure
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Re-establish housing’s primary role as a home rather than a financial asset
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Plan and invest in our places.
The GPS-HUD will be administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and it can be accessed here.
The Government has also released the new Maihi Ka Ora the National Māori Housing Strategy, which is strongly connected to the GPS-HUD through Te Maihi o te Whare Māori – the Māori Housing Innovation Framework for Action.
Infrastructure New Zealand made a submission on the discussion document for the GPS-HUD in July raising several concerns such as:
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discussions being on housing for all New Zealanders but the primary focus actually being on housing in the urban environment, thus requiring a vision that reflects this focus
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the lack of a definition of affordable housing and the absence of the housing continuum
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the need to recognise and acknowledge New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit
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the need to have regard for the perquisite infrastructure greenfield developments will need in order for those communities to be thriving and inclusive
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local government disproportionately burdened with achieving the aspirations of the GPS-HUD and the Government’s roles and responsibilities mainly limited to setting the rules and direction
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the need for an implementation plan and monitoring framework to be published alongside the GPS-HUD.
We are not satisfied the published GPS-HUD adequately addresses our concerns. Our full submission can be accessed here.