Next step for Auckland housing programme

The Government is inviting suitably qualified developers to register their interest in the development of housing on Crown-owned land in Auckland, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today. 

“We are seeking private sector developers with the capacity and expertise to participate in this next step in our programme to deliver more houses for Auckland. The main focus of the programme is to increase supply at pace, so we are interested in developers that will be capable of delivering a minimum of 100 houses in addition to their existing workload,” Dr Smith says. 

An Invitation to Partner was released on the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) website today. Proposals will be assessed by a group of industry experts and developers assigned to panels in accordance with their capability to undertake low, medium and high density housing projects. 

Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau, who under their Treaty of Waitangi settlement are required to be offered the first opportunity to develop vacant or underutilised Crown-owned land in Auckland, will be able to select a developer from the panels to work with should they decide to take up their opportunity to develop any of the sites identified. 

The Government has previously committed to making 20 per cent of the homes under the programme available for purchase by Community Housing Providers (CHPs), and a further 20 per cent priced as affordable for first home buyers as part of the initiative announced in this year’s Budget. 

“Our assessment of potential sites is also continuing at pace. Our aim is to have the first development agreement in place as soon as possible this year and the first homes completed by the end of 2016. I look forward to working together with both the private sector and the iwi and hapu of Tāmaki Makaurau to meet these objectives,” Dr Smith says.