Going for Housing Growth (Part 1): How we got into this mess

In this episode of The New Zealand Initiative podcast, Eric Crampton, Benno Blaschke, and Stu Donovan discuss the history and root causes of New Zealand's dysfunctional housing market. They trace the issues back to the Town and Country Planning Act, which down-zoned urban areas, and subsequent policies like the Metro Urban Limit, which restricted outward expansion. The conversation covers the Auckland Unitary Plan, its broad but modest upzoning, and its impact on housing supply. They also discuss the political and economic factors influencing housing policy, including NIMBYism, infrastructure constraints, and the incentives facing local councils. The speakers critique the National Policy Statement on Urban Development Capacity (NPS UDC) and the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS UD), highlighting how councils have gamed the system due to misaligned incentives and infrastructure funding challenges.