3. Question No. 3—HousingDr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 3—Housing3. Dr EMILY HENDERSON (Labour—Whangārei) to the Minister of Housing: What action is the Government taking to enable better housing outcomes through reform of the resource management system?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): We are simplifying the resource management system to make it faster cheaper and better to build the housing that we need. The plan development times will be shorter taking around four years to get out of the gate rather than up to 10 years under the current system. Independent hearings panels will improve plan quality and enable appeal rights to be restricted for matters in line with their recommendations reducing delay cost and re-litigation. By focusing on strategic planning more activities will be permitted and fewer consents needed in the new system saving time and costs for users that we expect to be passed on to home buyers.Dr Emily Henderson: Why are these changes to the planning system needed?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The Resource Management Act has not adequately protected the natural environment nor enabled development where needed. Currently the system doesn't provide enough certainty for housing developers. It costs too much driving up costs for housing developments and creating plans that have been too restrictive to enable the housing we need. Decades of this has contributed to New Zealand's housing being among the least affordable in the OECD.Dr Emily Henderson: What are the expected benefits from increased housing affordability then?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Estimates indicate the new system will provide annual average benefits to people from increased housing affordability of between $146 million and $834.3 million—economic modelling estimates as delivered by the more responsive and affordable housing supply that is enabled by these changes. Costs to users of the resource management system such as developers will also decrease by up to 19 percent or around $149 million per year. Those reduced planning component costs are expected to flow through to the prices people pay for their homes.Dr Emily Henderson: How will these fast-track consenting processes support additional housing supply?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Housing developments that address the demand or need for housing in a region including affordable housing will still be eligible to apply for a fast-track consenting system based on the one we created as part of the COVID response. Since 2020 56 fast-tracked projects have been approved for a total of 4142 new homes. Many of these projects are delivering affordable housing.Dr Emily Henderson: Will this then integrate medium density residential standards and the National Policy Statement on Urban Development?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Yes. The medium density residential standards in particular are key to enabling the more affordable higher-density housing that we need in our major urban centres. These standards were a bipartisan effort between the Labour and National parties supported by the Green Party and Te Paati Māori. They will be integrated into the new system through the national planning framework. Without them the development capacity of our cities would not be able to deliver the housing supply that we so badly need.Dr Emily Henderson: What is an example of how the system will make it easier to develop affordable housing?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: To give an illustrative example a developer or housing provider working across the Wellington region might need to be aware of eight different council plans under the Resource Management Act system all with slightly different rules consenting officers and practices. In the new system now there are only two plans to consider. This removes complexity and ambiguity for a developer giving them more confidence that they can go on ahead with delivering.