Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013

The purpose of the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act is to enhance housing affordability by facilitating an increase in land and housing supply in certain regions or districts identified as having housing supply and affordability issues. ³²⁷  To date, the following regions and district have been identified: ³²⁸

• Auckland
• Christchurch
• Hutt City
• Kapiti Coast
• Porirua
• Queenstown-Lakes
• Tauranga
• Upper Hutt
• Wellington
• Western Bay of Plenty

The Act provides for the creation of agreements between these territorial authorities and the Government called “Housing Accords”. ³²⁹  Housing Accords specify how the parties will work together to achieve the purpose of the Act and set agreed targets for residential developments. The Auckland Housing Accord sets a target of building 39,000 homes in three years. ⁴⁵⁴³

The Act provides for the establishment of “Special Housing Areas”. These created by Order in Council on the recommendation of the Minister for Housing. The Minister of Housing may only recommend a Special Housing Area if the territorial authority has recommended the area or the Minister has been unable to reach an agreement with the territorial authority. The Minister of Housing must also be satisfied that: ³³¹

• Adequate infrastructure to service qualifying developments exists or is likely to exist, and
• There is evidence of demand to create qualifying developments in the area, and
• There will be demand for residential housing in the area.

Special Housing Areas in Auckland are listed on Auckland Council’s website.

Within Special Housing Areas “Qualifying Developments” are provided with a more streamlined consenting process. To be considered a Qualifying Development, the development must be predominately residential, the dwellings must not be higher than 6 storeys or 27 metres, the development must contain at least the prescribed minimum number of dwellings and at least the prescribed percentage of affordable dwellings. ³³²  The criteria may be varied by an Order in Council on the recommendation of the Minister of Housing or a Housing Accord.

The Auckland Housing Accord requires Qualifying Developments to have capacity for 50 or more dwellings in greenfield areas and capacity for 5 or more dwellings in brownfield areas. Dwellings must be no higher than 6 storeys or comply with the height provisions in the Auckland Unitary Plan if they are lower. ⁴⁵⁴⁴

The Act provides an optional alternative to the standard RMA resource consent process for Qualifying Developments within Special Housing Areas. ³³⁴  The Act provides for the following changes to the RMA consenting process:

• Special activity status rules: For example where an activity is prohibited in an operative plan and a proposed plan a resource consent may be applied for provided that a plan change is lodged simultaneously. ³³⁵
  
• Very short decision-making timeframes: A resource consent application must generally be processed within 60 working days. ³³⁶
  
• No public notification: There is no public notification in any circumstances. Adjacent landowners, local authorities, infrastructure providers, and requiring authorities (if relevant) may receive limited notification. ³³⁷
  
• Altered decision-making criteria:  The decision-maker must not grant a resource consent unless satisfied that sufficient and appropriate infrastructure will be provided to support the development. The decision-maker must have regard to the following matters (giving weight to them in order listed from most to least): ³³⁸
  
  • The purpose of the Act,
  • Part 2 of the RMA,
  • Any relevant proposed plan,
  • The matters set out in the resource consent decision provisions of the RMA,
  • The matters set out in any other relevant enactment (such as the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008),
  • The Ministry for the Environment’s New Zealand Urban Design Protocol (2005)

The Act allows a qualifying development to apply for a plan change at the same time as a resource consent where required. The Act provides for the following changes to the RMA plan making process:

• Reduced timeframe: The decision must be made within 40 working days if adjoining landowners have given their approval or 130 working days if adjoining landowners have not given their approval, ³³⁹
  
• No public notification: The plan change request is only notified if the applicant has not obtained prior written approval of the adjoining landowners. If written approval is not obtained, adjacent landowners, local authorities, infrastructure providers, and requiring authorities (if relevant) only will be notified. ³⁴⁰
  
• Altered decision-making criteria: The decision-maker must have regard to the following matters (giving weight to them in order listed from most to least): ³⁴¹
  
  • The purpose of the Act,
  • Part 2 of the RMA,
  • Any proposed regional policy statement or proposed regional plan,
  • The matters set out in the plan making provisions of the RMA (except that a proposed policy statement or plan is to be preferred over an operative policy statement or plan if they are more consistent with the purpose of this Act),
  • The matters set out in any other relevant enactment (such as the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008).

The Act limits appeal rights significantly. There no right to appeal to the Environment Court in respect of developments which are three storeys high or less. Judicial review (LINK TO RMA JUDICIAL REVIEW) is the only remedy available. Environment Court appeals are available for developments between four and six storeys. ³⁴²

The Act allows an objection to be made against certain decisions, including where an application for resource consent is not granted, no submissions were received, and the decision was made under delegation. ³⁴³  The procedure set out in section 357C of the RMA applies. The objection must be made in writing within 15 working days of the decision and must set out the reasons for the objection. The agency must consider the objection and if it is not resolved set a date, time and place for a hearing of the objection. The agency may dismiss or uphold the objection. There is no right of appeal against a decision on an objection. ³⁴⁴

Last updated at 2:35PM on January 8, 2018