The district’s councillors have had their say on the government’s Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development (GPS-HUD), which aims to provide a shared vision and direction for housing and urban development in New Zealand.

The GPS-UD provides a roadmap for the next 30 years with the goal of ensuring all New Zealanders live in a safe, warm and dry home they can afford.

It outlines steps to achieve this, such as ensuring more affordable homes are built; re-establishing housing’s primary role as a home rather than a financial asset; ensuring existing housing meets its needs; and supporting families to have safe, healthy, affordable homes with secure tenure.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDCs) councillors signed off a submission to the GSP-UD at a meeting last month.

The submission said the district faced “a number of significant challenges in relation to housing, which are exacerbated by growth pressures, high visitor numbers, funding shortfalls and mountainous landscapes.”

While QLDC broadly agreed with the strategic framework proposed in the GPS-UD, “housing affordability will not be resolved through the increase of housing supply alone,” the submission said.

QLDC said collaboration between different parts of the housing system “will be essential for success”.

A successful public-private housing partnership in the district is exemplified in the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust (QLCHT), a not-for-profit social enterprise created to manage and deliver affordable housing solutions to those vital to the community who cannot afford it. 

However the district still has its share of housing affordability issues, with the average house price in the district recently topping $1.5M. 

The GPS-UD is being completed alongside other government-level housing reviews, including the Urban Growth Agenda (UGA), resource management reforms and the Urban Growth Partnerships.

The first GPS-UD has now been published and it can be accessed here.

PHOTO: Supplied