Mayor Phil Goff has convened the first meeting of the Auckland Mayoral Taskforce on Auckland Housing Supply today (20 February).
The Mayoral Taskforce will be made up of representatives from Auckland Council, the central government and the private sector.
Its objectives are to:
- identify barriers and constraints to building more homes in Auckland at a pace and scale which meets the demand created by population growth
- identify options and make recommendations to overcome those barriers and constraints.
"Growing by around 900 people a week, Auckland faces severe housing difficulties as the supply of housing fails to keep pace with demand," Mayor Phil Goff says.
"The number of extra houses the city needs each year is estimated at around 13,000 and we have been building only around half that number. The accumulated shortfall in homes grows each year.
“This has resulted in the cost of buying a house becoming unaffordable for growing numbers of Aucklanders, rent raises putting low-income households under real pressure, and growing homelessness.”
The taskforce will bring together people with a diverse range of expertise to analyse the current situation and find solutions to the problem.
“To the extent possible, we will try to find common ground on these things and make recommendations aimed at resolving the problems,” says Phil Goff.
"Bringing together the cross-section of people involved in housing supply to share their expertise is an important step towards finding solutions to Auckland's housing issues. I'm delighted that representatives from all sections have agreed to be involved.”
Financial journalist and commentator Bernard Hickey is facilitating the taskforce's discussion.
Recommendations from the Mayoral Taskforce will be made public in May.
