Legislation to cut red tape for new housing has passed in Parliament that's aimed at enabling homes to be built faster in New Zealand's biggest cities.
The new law allows three homes up to three storeys to be built on most sites without the need for a resource consent, it should enable tens of thousands of new homes to be built in the next five to eight years, and will see existing housing density rules brought forward by a year.
"Passing this legislation with support from the National Party, the Green Party and the Maori Party delivers stable, enduring policy on urban density. This gives New Zealand homeowners, councils, developers and investors greater certainty,” Housing Minister Megan Woods said.
“These changes address the overly restrictive planning rules that limit the types of homes people can build and where they can build them. These changes to the Resource Management Act will allow more affordable homes to be built more easily in areas with good access to jobs, transport, and community facilities like schools and hospitals."
It comes after median prices for residential property across the country and house prices outside of Auckland hit new record highs in November.
Residential property median prices increased 23.8 per cent compared to November last year — from $747,000 to $925,000.
Median prices had effectively seen an increase of 3.7 per cent month-on-month, REINZ said.
Meanwhile, the median house price rose by 26 per cent — from $615,000 to $775,000.
In Auckland, the median price hit $1.3 million, another record.
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