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Upzoning New Zealand - Works in Progress

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Housing policy enthusiasts have been excited about New Zealand lately. Why? Because this small country at the bottom of the Pacific has recently passed some major upzoning reforms. Here’s what happened. New Zealand faces one of the worst housing shortages in the world. As in many countries, this stems from local governments having the power to control development, but no incentive to encourage it. Since the 1970s, housebuilding in New Zealand has been tightly restricted. Consequently, in Auckland, the largest city, the house-price-to-income ratio had reached 10.8 by 2022. To put that in perspective, it was 8.7 in Greater London and 7.1 in New York. If a central government wants local governments to enable building, it has two main options: carrot or stick. It can give local governments incentives to support development, or it can force them to zone for growth. In recent years, New Zealand has been using some sticks. Major figures in the center-left Labour Party and the center-right Nat

Housing policy enthusiasts have been excited about New Zealand lately. Why? Because this small country at the bottom of the Pacific has recently passed some major upzoning reforms. Here’s what happened. New Zealand faces one of the worst housing shortages in the world. As in many countries, this stems from local governments having the power to control development, but no incentive to encourage it. Since the 1970s, housebuilding in New Zealand has been tightly restricted. Consequently, in Auckland, the largest city, the house-price-to-income ratio had reached 10.8 by 2022 . To put that in persp

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