Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown have announced a fourth Special Housing Area (SHA) will be made available Auckland wide, opening up more land for housing developments. Papakura and its unused golf course form one of the new 17 tranches of the SHA and will offer a place for about 350 new dwellings to be constructed.
Having not been in use for over two years, the ex-Papakura golf course and an adjoining property are currently having detailed storm water modelling and other technical planning work being done, ready to be able to fast track the building of new homes. New community facilities will also be provided and the Papakura community are encouraged to attend planned informational meetings to find out more about their new local development.
Auckland’s Urban Development is Planned for the Next 30 Years
Special Housing Areas were created to help combat Auckland?s housing crisis by opening up land for new residential developments. The SHA developments allow building plans to be fast-tracked through the consents process and aim to make housing more affordable for Aucklanders. This urban development of the city will see new communities being created right up to the Urban Rural Boundary for the next 30 years.
With this fourth latest tranche of 17 SHAs having been released, the number of new potential homes ready to be quickly built rises to 41,500. Since the 2013 establishment of the Auckland Housing Accord which allows the creation of SHAs, building consents have risen 30% in the year to July, according to Nick Smith. He credits this growth to the Auckland Housing Accord.
Reserve Bank Holds Interest Rates Citing Lower Inflationary Pressures
New Zealand’s Reserve Bank has yet again held the Official Cash Rate at 3.5% and indicated that it will continue to do so into early next year. With the number of house sales having fallen due to the need to have a minimum 20% deposit for a mortgage, first home buyers are being pushed out of the market which is causing fewer house sales.
Consequently the Reserve Bank has lowered its forecasts of house price inflation and says that the current 6% annual house price inflation will lower to 0% by 2015. This has meant that banks have been continuing to offer low interest rates deals, with mortgage brokers continuing to be able to offer the best deals to their customers. This is particularly true for those with a minimum 20% deposit, who are the banks preferred mortgage customers.
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