Resource Management Act (RMA) stories
Stronger planning rules are still needed to stop homes being built on land prone to landslides and coastal erosion after Cyclone Gabrielle.
New Zealand’s infrastructure sector is urging the incoming Government to speed up investment, reform planning and tap private capital.
Councils could lose influence over local planning as new regional committees shift decisions further from communities and raise funding concerns.
Uncertainty over tax and housing policy could briefly slow residential sales, though commercial activity is likely to stay driven by rates and inflation.
New Zealand growers could face higher food costs and poorer water security if reform leaves storage projects harder to finance, IrrigationNZ says.
Critics say the overhaul could add bureaucracy and legal uncertainty, raising doubts it will ease New Zealand’s housing crisis.
Councils face tighter limits on rezoning fertile farmland for housing, as ministers say it is needed to safeguard New Zealand’s food supply.
Public scrutiny begins on a replacement regime for the RMA, with the first draft aiming to speed planning and ease housing constraints.
Critics warn the draft overhaul could leave consenting slower and housebuilding harder, despite ministers promising a leaner planning regime.
Budget 2021’s housing package was welcomed, but experts warned it lacks the radical steps needed to help first-home buyers and renters.
Home buyers could gain from easier grants, while investors face a tougher tax regime and rents may rise as a result.
Without a clear plan, New Zealand's resource management overhaul will miss the Government's wellbeing and net-zero goals, says Infrastructure New Zealand.
Listings fell to record lows as buyers pushed Auckland’s median house price to GBP £1 million and nationwide sales hit a 14-year October high.
Nationwide house prices climbed 1.3% in October as low rates and scarce listings kept demand ahead of supply.
New planning laws may still fail to fix housing shortages and infrastructure gaps unless councils and agencies get more capacity and funding.
Weak planning, funding and governance are leaving New Zealand unable to deliver the wider public outcomes it now says it wants.
Business leaders say the overhaul could speed up planning, cut costs and improve housing and infrastructure delivery, but local councils face uncertainty.
Transport industry groups say decades of stop-start planning could end if National’s $31 billion road and rail programme goes ahead.
The project will add 93 MW of capacity and offset 100,000 tonnes of CO2 a year as MainPower begins site works near Waipara.
Planners warn the rushed consents could sideline community input and environmental safeguards as recovery projects are sped through this month.
