This order, which comes into force on 25 August 2017, inserts the name of the district of Rotorua District Council into Schedule 1 of the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013 (the Act). Regions and districts named in that schedule are those that the Government has identified as having housing supply and affordability issues for the purposes of the Act.

The effect of the order is that, on and after 25 August 2017, the mechanisms in the Act for addressing housing supply and affordability issues may be applied in relation to the district of Rotorua District Council. These include—

• power for Rotorua District Council and the Government to enter into an agreement (a housing accord) to work together to address housing supply and affordability issues in the district:

• power for the Minister for Building and Construction to recommend that defined geographical areas within the district be established as special housing areas (but only on Rotorua District Council’s recommendation if a housing accord is in force):

• in relation to developments in special housing areas that meet certain criteria (qualifying developments), power for developers and infrastructure providers to apply for and obtain resource consents (and, in certain circumstances, related plan changes or variations to proposed plans) under the Act instead of under the Resource Management Act 1991.