What and Where they will be

 

On the 11th of December (so last week) an Order in Council was passed by the Governor General to allow the second round of releases for Special Housing Areas under the Housing Accord legislation. Remembering the Housing Accord could only be bought into effect if the Unitary Plan was notified – which it is (and open for submissions at the moment).

The Order in Council with the maps attached can be seen in the embed below:

 

From Dr Nick Smith – Minister of Housing on this second tranche of Special Housing Areas:

Auckland Special Housing Areas to add 9,500 new homes

 

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown today announced the second batch of 11 Special Housing Areas (SHA) that will progressively bring to market more than 9,500 homes across Auckland.

“We are building real momentum towards increasing the supply of housing in Auckland. These further 11 Special Housing Areas, on top of the 11 announced in October, will bring on stream an additional 15,500 new homes. This is good progress in three months towards the Auckland Accord’s target of consenting for 39,000 new homes over the next three years,” Dr Smith says.

“We are starting to see evidence of the progress that’s possible when Government and Council work together to solve Auckland’s housing challenges. This second tranche includes high quality-urban developments, as well as new greenfields projects, that offer the kind of affordable housing choices Aucklanders need,” Auckland Mayor Len Brown says.

The locations for the 11 Special Housing Areas are:

 

• Belmont, Pukekohe, 720+ homes, 90 hectares
• Clinker Place and Thom Street, New Lynn, 780+ homes, 13.7 hectares
• George Terrace, Onehunga, 50+ homes, 2.4 hectares
• Hingaia, 2500 homes+, 478 hectares
• Khyber Pass Road, Newmarket, 50+ homes, 0.4 hectares
• Lake Pupuke Drive, Takapuna, 70+ homes, 0.7 hectares
• Northern Tāmaki, Tāmaki, 1800+ homes, 204 hectares
• Royal Road, Massey, 108+ homes, 10.3 hectares
• Scott Point, Hobsonville, 2592+ homes, 283 hectares
• Silverdale, 876 homes, 91 hectares
• Trent Street, Avondale, 29 homes, 0.9 hectares

 

“This second batch of Special Housing Areas includes many larger developments as well as more urban intensification projects. The proposal for Scott Point brings the remainder of Hobsonville Peninsula into a Special Housing Area and the SHA for Northern Tāmaki will enable the Tāmaki regeneration project to take shape,” Dr Smith says.

 

The Special Housing Areas have been recommended by Auckland Council and approved by Cabinet and the Governor-General by Order in Council. From Friday applications for subdivisions will be able to be considered by council under the fast-tracked law which requires approvals within six months for greenfield developments (compared to the current average of three years) and three months for brownfield developments (compared to the current average of one year).

“There is a power of work to be done to bring these thousands of new homes to market. The subdivisions and houses will need to be designed, consented, and built. The big gain with the declaration of these Special Housing Areas is that the land zoning that would have historically taken years has been done in a few weeks,” Dr Smith says.

“Alongside freeing up land supply, the Government is passing a law to rein in council development charges, proposing to introduce more transparency and competition into the building materials market, investing in skills and productivity in the construction sector, and supporting first home buyers by expanding the Welcome Home Loans and KiwiSaver First Home Deposit Subsidy schemes.

 

“I am encouraged by the significant increase in new house construction in Auckland through 2013 but this will need to be stepped up further in 2014. The Government and Auckland Council are working much more closely together to facilitate this growth. My ambition is to deliver a third significant batch of Special Housing Areas around March next year.”

— Ends —-

 

An accompanying set of maps for the second Tranche is embedded as a PDF below:

 

Further analysis of these SHA’s will be done tomorrow and posted up on Talking Auckland.

More on Special Housing Areas and the Housing Accord can be found here: Special Housing Areas