The government has confirmed it will not extend Special Housing Area (SHA) legislation, which enables developers to fast-track the development of housing.

Housing and urban development minister Phil Twyford said although the law had increased housing supply in some areas, it had not led to more affordable housing.

“Research found that in some cases houses were five per cent more expensive inside Special Housing Areas than outside them,” he said. “Our government recently considered extending this legislation, but on balance, the benefits did not outweigh the costs.”

The legislation will expire on September 18: already approved SHAs will not be affected, and those currently undergoing the approval process will have two years to have their consents fast-tracked. A Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) representative said four more SHA proposals would be considered at the April 18 council meeting, but no more would be considered beyond that point. Council could not confirm before deadline if any of these four were in Wanaka.

Two SHAs in the Wanaka area have already been approved by council: The Bright Sky SHA proposed for Wanaka and Universal Developments’ SHA proposed for Lake Hawea. Both proposals are currently being considered by the associate minister of housing, Jenny Salesa - the final step in the process. Seven other SHAs have been approved in and around Queenstown.

The Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust (QLCHT) currently receives 10 per cent of SHA land for its affordable housing initiative. QLDC is the only council which specified that figure in its lead policy. This process is also known as inclusionary zoning, which is broadly defined as requirements or incentives in the planning process to provide “affordable” or lower-cost housing as part of a development.

“This means the community (through QLCHT) receives a significant portion of all SHA land created which is then held in trust ownership in perpetuity,” QLCHT executive officer Julie Scott said. “So although SHAs are certainly not the silver bullet to New Zealand’s housing issue, they certainly play a role in fast tracking the development of land, and in Queenstown Lakes District’s case – the direct provision of affordable housing.”

Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean said she was disappointed the SHA legislation had been canned.

“The SHA legislation was all about enhancing housing affordability by increasing land and housing supply, and cutting RMA red tape to get there and it was working,” Jacqui said.

“The QLDC has already approved nine SHAs with about 1700 sections, including a 400-lot SHA at Lake Hawea and another at Bright Sky in Wanaka. What the future holds for the Wanaka SHA projects now is up in the air…”

Julie said she hoped the government would create appropriate new legislation to replace the expiring SHA legislation. “Minister Twyford has indicated he is interested in creating inclusionary zoning legislation to enable more councils to bring it into their respective districts. We would certainly welcome this.”

In a media statement on Tuesday (March 12), Phil Twyford said the government had a comprehensive plan to make housing more affordable by increasing land supply and fast-track residential construction.

“The government is also setting up a housing and urban development authority to help fast-track urban development projects. It will have powers for land acquisition, planning and consenting,” Phil Twyford said.

PHOTO: Wanaka App