Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) says it is still taking steps to address affordable housing despite an inclusionary zoning proposal being withdrawn.

Early this month councillors agreed to withdraw the proposal - which would have required most new residential subdivisions and developments to make a contribution of either land or money for affordable housing - on the recommendation of an independent hearing panel.

Housing affordability should instead be tackled by a mix of regulatory and non-regulatory options in a package of targeted measures, the hearing panel said.

QLDC planning and development general manager David Wallace said work was already in progress on most of the alternatives the panel had recommended.

Those alternatives included providing funding through rates and development contributions, providing more affordable housing through plan provisions (urban intensification) and partnering with other organisations (such as central government).

The panel also said the council should directly address the primary cause of the affordable housing issue and lack of rental housing, which it said was the increase of residential visitor accommodation.    

David said options around plan provisions, partnerships and residential visitor accommodation have all been identified to support key actions in QLDC’s Joint Housing Action Plan (JHAP) and to improve housing outcomes in the district.

These mechanisms remained a work in progress, he said, and their effects upon the district aren’t fully understood yet.

Read more: Progress on housing action plan

The Urban Intensification Variation (UIV) - which proposes growth ‘out and up’ (increased building height and density) - could also help address planning provisions, if it is approved. 

A hearings panel has been selected for the proposal and a hearing will take place in 2025.

Read more: Urban intensification: Growth ‘up and out’ proposed

Some councillors, at the meeting, were less positive than David about the effects of withdrawing the inclusionary housing proposal.

Deputy mayor Quentin Smith said it “leaves us on the back foot with no obvious leverage” and councillor Esther Whitehead said it put councillors “between a rock and a hard place”.

There was general agreement with councillor Nikki Gladding’s urge to “move on as quickly as possible with other tools [to address affordable housing]”.

PHOTO: Wānaka App