New Zealand Updates Infrastructure Funding Framework for Housing Development

New Zealand Updates Infrastructure Funding Framework for Housing Development

New Zealand: New Zealand has passed the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Amendment Bill, introducing changes intended to expand funding options for infrastructure supporting residential development. The legislation allows councils, developers and infrastructure providers to use a wider range of financing mechanisms without increasing council borrowing. Under the framework, private investors can fund infrastructure projects upfront and recover costs through levies applied to properties that directly benefit from the infrastructure.

The amendments broaden the range of eligible projects to include transport infrastructure delivered by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail and water service organisations. The legislation also enables operational and maintenance costs to be funded through levy revenue and aims to simplify approval processes by reducing administrative requirements. The Government stated that the reforms form part of its Going for Housing Growth programme and are intended to support additional housing development by improving infrastructure delivery and financing mechanisms.

Source: Devdiscourse