$100m more for housing on Crown Land

Budget 2017 will include $100 million in new capital funding to allow vacant or under-utilised Crown land to be freed up for additional housing developments, Social Housing Minister Amy Adams says.

“The Government has committed to building 34,000 new houses in Auckland over the next 10 years and the Crown Land Development Programme is contributing land for 2700 of those houses,” Ms Adams says.

"The new capital will be used to fund the additional areas of Crown land needed for around 1200 of these new houses.”

Over its lifetime, the Crown Land Programme is fiscally-neutral. Upfront funds are used to cover the cost of holding the land while it is being developed. Once the homes built on this land are built and sold, or in some instances earlier, the Crown will recoup the price of the land. 

“As part of the programme, the Government has committed to 20 per cent of the homes being available for social housing and a further 20 per cent priced as affordable – defined as no more than the KiwiSaver HomeStart cap,” Ms Adams says.

“Last week, I turned the sod at a new 100-house development at New North Road on land previously set aside for roading, at least half of which will be affordable houses.”

The Crown Land Programme is part of the Government’s Crown Building Project which will replace 8300 old, rundown houses in Auckland with 34,000 brand new purpose-built houses over 10 years.