Carterton councillors have unanimously adopted a plan that is hoped to ease the housing crisis in the district.
An aerial view of housing in Carterton. Photo: LDR
Currently, Carterton has the highest median weekly rent of the three Wairarapa districts, at $440.
This compares to $418 in Masterton, and $400 in South Wairarapa.
Data also shows that for Carterton homeowners, 29 percent of household income is required to service their mortgage.
Both measures are indicative of a housing shortage in the district.
To find solutions, the council commissioned a Housing Action Plan which was approved today.
Four options were developed to show how Carterton District Council [CDC] could stimulate housing supply in the district.
These were: status quo; acting as an enabler; acting as an intermediary; or acting as a developer.
All approaches were adopted, with the exception of the council acting as a developer.
This was despite community feedback requesting the council purchase land and develop affordable housing.
The option was discounted because a lot of money would be needed for the council to buy and develop land, which would have "intergenerational impacts on current and future Carterton residents".
CDC does not currently own housing stock or land that would be suitable for development, the report said.
"Acting as a developer would be cost prohibitive and potentially result in perverse outcomes where CDC unintentionally competed with developers for land, driving prices up instead of down," the report said.
Instead, the council would provide developable land through its Urban Growth Strategy and Carterton East Structure Plan.
It would also communicate development opportunities with the private sector to enable pipeline delivery planning.
The Carterton East Structure Plan is currently in progress and would provide for an estimated 462 extra residential sections.
However, this would meet less than half of the anticipated demand for housing in the district by 2043.
The plan extends from Park Road to Moreton Road and includes the southern area where Premier Beehive is.
Councillor Rob Stockley said the plan was "awesome" and council needed to keep it at the forefront of decision-making.
Mayor Greg Lang agreed and said the timing of the plan's approval could not have been better.
"It's the perfect tool to keep us moving forward," he said.
The Housing Action Report was collated by Greytown-based research company Planalytics.
Adoption of the plan was moved by councillor Robyn Cherry-Campbell and seconded by Brian Deller.
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