On 5 August 2025, Property Council submitted to the Infrastructure Commission on the Draft National Infrastructure Plan 2025.
Why this matters to our members
Our members support certainty in the infrastructure sector and a more strategic, coordinated and long-term approach to infrastructure investment and delivery.
Our view
Property Council broadly supports the Commission’s goal of creating greater pipeline certainty for the infrastructure sector, but has made some recommendations to better align with the property sector.
At a high level, Property Council recommends that the Commission:
- Consult Property Council New Zealand and our members to gain an understanding of how an overreliance on development contribution fees risks undermining development feasibility;
- Consider flow-on impacts of the new/pending Development Levies and congestion charging with their wider affordability advice to Government;
- Revise its “fully fund” user-pay infrastructure principle to focus on closing the funding gaps, where appropriate;
- Explore how its long-term needs assessments and investment principles can be integrated into local government planning frameworks;
- Adopt a principle that 30-year plans are to be funded in 10-year increments to ensure that investment settings remain responsible to fiscal realities while providing certainty for delivery;
- Encourage the National Infrastructure Funding and Financing Agency and central government to promote international awareness of the newly launched Investment Boost policy;
- Recommend the Government expand Investment Boost to the Build to Rent sector, as internationally, Build to Rent investments align with future transport investment opportunities;
- Form long-term infrastructure views and needs in conjunction with the development sector to ensure market demand, feasibility and delivery of projects align with expectations;
- Adopt a clear position supporting land-use policies that improve access to, and utilisation of, existing and planned infrastructure;
- Support a hierarchical infrastructure planning approach to address the unique challenges of delivering large-scale and nationally significant infrastructure;
- Establish a centralised government property body with cross-agency oversight and dedicated property expertise; and
- Undertake further analysis of the Commission’s project transparency policy to ensure that it does not breach New Zealand’s competition and privacy laws.