News + Insights

Off the back of the Government’s recent fast track announcements, another piece of the delivery plan around public infrastructure projects has been revealed. On Tuesday 18th June the Government announced that it intends modernising the Public Works Act 1981 (PWA). The PWA is the legislation that the Crown and Local Authorities use to compulsorily acquire land needed for infrastructure projects. The PWA is now over 40 years old and has not been substantially amended since 1988. It is generally considered to be complicated, convoluted and cumbersome.

Introduced under urgency last month, the Fast-track Approvals Bill creates a “one-stop-shop” pathway for infrastructure and development projects to obtain resource consents and other legislative approvals. We summarise key aspects of the Bill and what it means for eligible projects.

The Government is proposing to make it easier to build small, self-contained and detached houses – commonly known as “granny flats” – by removing the need to obtain building consent and certain resource consents. The changes are intended to improve housing affordability and alleviate the housing shortage by reducing costs and timeframes involved. For the purposes of this article, we refer to these types of units as Minor Residential units (MRUs).

In late 2021, the Law Commission completed its review of succession law in New Zealand. The Government is now considering the report. What are the possible outcomes for New Zealanders?

Significant changes to the corporate governance disclosure rules were proposed last year and a draft bill is expected to be released in mid 2023. These changes are intended to improve the transparency of beneficial ownership of companies and limited partnerships, and signal a major departure from the long-standing ability of these beneficial owners to remain anonymous.

The Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act was quickly passed into law in December 2021. Its significance on future urban development and planning cannot be understated, enabling housing intensification in certain areas.