Finance Minister Bill English expects the Auckland Council Unitary Plan to deliver the number of houses Auckland needs.
It's estimated 280,000 new homes are needed to curb Auckland's housing crisis, but the Unitary Plan's estimate is 80,000.
But Mr English told The Nation this morning house prices will continue to spiral if the plan doesn't allow for enough housing.
"We've just made it pretty clear that we'd expect the plan will deliver enough room for the houses that are needed in Auckland. Because if it doesn't, we'll end up going back into a price spiral, and we've talked about the risks of that for the last couple of years," he says.
But Mr English suggests Auckland's eastern suburbs may get away with less houses being built.
"The Government has made it clear. It needs to see a plan ultimately that enables enough houses. And if that means more in the South and the West, out on the edge of the city, well, that's where they'll go," he says.
At the moment the minister says there isn't a plan, but an independent panel going through the hearings.
"The council has decided not to submit more evidence to that panel. The panel has yet to make significant decisions about the plan," he says.
Newshub.
