Housing has traditionally not been a major focus of the National Infrastructure Plan. As the 2010 Plan noted, the notion of infrastructure in the Plan falls between a number of standard infrastructure definitions and has focussed both on the physical infrastructure of national significance that has a direct impact on productivity and living standards, while also paying attention to the more capital intensive sectors within central government services. Typically, these have been the education, justice and health sectors.
Since 2010, housing has increased in focus and priority for a number of reasons.
• First is the scale of capital invested, at $15b housing is the second largest asset class on the Government's balance sheet (behind the State Highway network). In a constrained fiscal environment, the first Plan outcome of better use of existing infrastructure is directly relevant.
• Secondly, the importance of housing location and form as a demand-side driver on network infrastructure such as electricity, transport and water - we are seeing this play out now, especially in Auckland as the Council plans for projected population growth. The Council is aiming to meet this demand by increasing the supply of land through mechanisms in the newly enacted Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013.
• Thirdly, the impact that housing activity has on supply side capacity across the building and construction sector and on procuring other infrastructure projects. This is and will be a significant issue for the next few years because of the level of activity generated by the Christchurch rebuild.
The Government has a work programme to address five key areas affecting housing affordability: land supply, provision of infrastructure, productivity in the construction sector, cost of building materials and costs and delays in the regulatory process. These will have an impact on the planning and provision of infrastructure across all sectors.
As a result, housing will be an increased focus of the Plan going forward and a key social sector we will include in the performance indicators framework and evidence base due to be published early in 2014.