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Andrew Little: Portion of extra houses built under Unitary Plan must be affordable

Author
Newstalk ZB staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 28 Jul 2016, 7:01AM
Labour leader Andrew Little spoke to Andrew Dickens (Photo / NZ Herald)

Andrew Little: Portion of extra houses built under Unitary Plan must be affordable

Author
Newstalk ZB staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 28 Jul 2016, 7:01AM

Andrew Little says more needs to be done to ensure first-home buyers and those currently cut out of the market, can buy in the 'great Auckland of the future'.

An independent hearings panel has delivered recommendations on the Unitary Plan - which includes expanding the the urban boundary to include 30 percent more land for houses.

The Labour leader told Andrew Dickens given the housing crisis in Auckland, there needs to be some contingent of affordable houses included in the intensification.

"Of the expected 400,000-odd extra houses that have to be built, a proportion of them - 15 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent - need to be at an affordable level, whatever that might be, define what that is. But there's got to be a commitment."

Mr Little said you can't rely on the market to sort itself out.

"A certain proportion have to be houses of an affordable nature, so whether there is a whole street set aside, or you pepper pot them throughout. Either way there's got to be a certain proportion set aside who in the current market simply cannot afford to buy the average house."

LISTEN ABOVE: Labour leader Andrew Little speaks with Andrew Dickens about the Unitary Plan

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