Government launches Ministry of Housing and Urban Development

New ministry will have little effect on builders’ day-to-day business – Government  

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development will be launched on 1 August, combining several existing government departments – including the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) building and urban policy function – to help the Government achieve its goal of making housing more affordable.

However, a spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford says that MBIE will retain its regulatory building functions, with the new ministry designed to target high-level policy and planning, along with addressing homelessness and ensuring affordable and dry rental housing is provided in the public and private market.

That means builders should still contact MBIE for issues relating to the Building Code and the Licenced Building Practitioner’s Codewords newsletter, along with its other functions relating to building performance.

The full complement of government departments being transferred to the new ministry are:

• From MBIE: the housing and urban policy functions, the KiwiBuild Unit and the Community Housing Regulatory Authority.
• From the Ministry of Social Development: policy for emergency, transitional and public housing.
• From the Treasury: monitoring of Housing New Zealand (HNZ) and Tāmaki Redevelopment Company (TRC).