Budget 2026: How much could your council get from Govt’s new housing consent scheme?
The Government's new scheme is designed to return funds to councils who consent more homes. Photo / Jason Oxenham
New analysis reveals only eight councils in New Zealand are expected to make more than $1 million annually from the Government’s fresh efforts to incentivise councils to build more houses.
Infometrics’ chief executive and principal economist Brad Olsen has used details released in Budget 2026 for the Government’s Growth Fund to calculate how much each council would get under the scheme, based on data for the March 2026 year.
The Government said the new fund is about ensuring housing growth is seen as a good thing rather than a burden that puts more costs on local bodies.
Olsen’s analysis shows the fund would have paid out $86.8 million across 67 local councils if it operated in the year through to March 2026.
He said this is far less (14 times less, in fact) than if the Government split GST from the revenue of new builds with councils, as was proposed by Brooke van Velden in a 2022 member’s bill.
Infometrics’ analysis for this policy over the March 2026 year suggested $1.2b would be returned to councils.
Under the Growth Fund analysis, eight councils would receive funding of $1m or more: Auckland, Waikato District, Hamilton City, Waipa District, Waimakariri District, Christchurch City, Selwyn District, and Queenstown-Lakes District.
Auckland would be expected to get $39.9m per year and Christchurch City would get $10.8m, according to Infometrics’ analysis.
Just under half of councils (46%) would receive funding between $100,000 and $500,000. A third would be set for $100,000 or less.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop says the figures from Infometrics’ analysis appeared “broadly similar to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s modelling, with some differences for individual councils”.
“We’ve designed the scheme specifically so that high-growth councils get more, and the system incentivises growth.
“Actual numbers won’t be known until next year, obviously, as they’re based on February 1, 2026, to January 31, 2027.”
Bishop said the scheme was about changing the “political economy of housing growth so that it is seen as a good thing, not a burden”.
The Growth Fund is a Government scheme designed to encourage councils to increase housing in their area by paying an incentive for new housing consents.
Budget 2026 earmarked $400m for the next four years for this.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said the scheme, which was part of Act’s coalition agreement with National, would make housing development a source of revenue for councils, rather than a source of cost.
“The only time you get prompt service from a council is when they’re issuing a parking ticket.
“They’ll come to you, anywhere, anytime, because there’s money in it.
“Imagine how many consents they’d issue if there was money in it for them?”
Councils will receive payments based on a proportion of the national average new dwelling consent value. Payment rates increase the more homes a council consents:
- For each new home consented, up to an equivalent of 1% of existing dwellings, the payment rate is 0.25% of the national average consent value.
- For consents between 1-2% of existing dwellings, payment is 0.5% of the national average consent value.
- Beyond 2% of existing dwellings, payment is 1.25%.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.