Parliament has just passed legislation that gives Auckland an opportunity to take back some control of housing intensification. But there are still challenges ahead and there are limitations on what can be done next.
In 2021, the National and Labour parties joined forces to increase housing intensification. This included requiring large cities across NZ to upzone for 30 years of growth. Included in these changes was the Medium Density Residential Standard (MDRS) which allows three homes of up to three storeys high to be built on most residential sites in urban Auckland without a resource consent. While councils may not have agreed with this change, Parliament makes the law - there were special requirements in the legislation that required councils to comply. It also denied councils the ability to downzone anything until the changes were made. In response, Auckland created Plan Change 78 (PC78) which was notified in 2022 with feedback and hearings.
When the storms hit on Auckland Anniversary 2023, Auckland Council asked the Government of the day for permission to halt intensification. The Minister agreed to an extension until March 2024 to allow council to investigate natural hazards and flooding. In October 2023 another Government was sworn in and the same conversations were had, and another extension was granted (until March 2025). Replacement legislation was introduced in December 2024, with another extension while it went through parliament. However the city centre was excluded from the extension and as a result, the city centre parts of PC78 were made operative in June 2025.
The legislation passed allows Auckland to withdraw PC78, subject to conditions. One of these is that withdrawal requires council to replace it with another plan change that provides the same or more housing capacity. In essence, Auckland will be able to determine where, but not if, we intensify. There is also a requirement to notify the new plan before 10 October (literally the day before election). And it's a one-time opportunity - withdraw PC78 now or continue and it becomes operative.
The decision to withdraw isn't automatic and will be made by the Governing Body (Mayor and Councillors), probably at the Policy and Planning Committee on Thursday 21 August. Given the extraordinary tight timeframes, we understand that there won't be public consultation before this decision.
While we've been waiting for Parliament, Auckland Council has been preparing. Workshops have been held with the Governing Body (Mayor and Councillors) to create a draft proposal that meets the Government's requirements (as best we could understand them before the bill passed). While Local Boards have been provided some updates, we're not responsible for the decisions or the direction of the plan and we've had no input (zoning sits with the Governing Body). The Howick Local Board is expecting to have an opportunity to provide feedback and we’ll be arranging an additional meeting on Thursday 28 August to fit into the timelines.
While I'm pleased that Auckland is getting some control back, it comes with significant conditions and an extraordinarily tight timeframe. I strongly support quality intensification in the right places (over unsustainable urban sprawl), but this rushed process is unlikely to lead to the best outcomes.
As more information become available, I’ll make sure we share what we can.