Housing affordability

Stuff reports:

The move came as Finance Minister Bill English warned councils could be stripped of land-allocation powers unless new space was set aside for development, especially in Auckland and Christchurch.

English predicted progress within months, adding: “Certainly well before next year we would be expecting to see changes.”

Allocating more land for housing isn’t quite a silver bullet. There are almost no silver bullets in politics. But it would be the one action that can make the most difference.

Auckland has an urban density around the same as New York and Sydney.  That’s pretty incredible when you consider that the more populous the city the higher you expect the density to be.