The change will result in the scrap of three existing housing agencies
The three existing agencies responsible for building homes – Housing New Zealand, its subsidiary HLC, and the KiwiBuild Unit – are to become one, according to Minister for Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford.
The new agency, Housing and Urban Development Authority, will lead large and small-scale urban development projects throughout the country, including building state and affordable homes and creating master-planned communities.
“The authority will transform the way New Zealanders live, work and play by building communities with a mix of public, affordable, and market housing, as well as the jobs, transport links, open spaces and facilities people need – it will do this at scale and pace so we can build our way out of the national housing crisis,” Twyford said. “Over the coming months, we will continue to communicate the progress we’re making on our KiwiBuild and state home build programmes and further detail on how the urban development authority will operate.”
No changes will happen for Housing NZ tenants. The new legislation to establish the authority will be introduced to Parliament in 2019, with the first projects expected to be up and running in early 2020, the minister added.
