The Government has introduced legislation to change controversial Auckland's housing capacity requirements —but the hotly-contested final figure is lower than what Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced six weeks ago.
He announced this morning that legislation would be introduced today to reduce the minimum housing capacity for Auckland Council's Plan Change 120 (PC120) to 1.4 million homes, down from the 1.6 million figure he tentatively revealed last month.
That figure had itself been a reduction from the original capacity requirement of approximately two million homes, which Bishop had described as "a red herring that transformed into a lightning rod" while announcing the backdown in February.
A copy of the draft bill was released this morning.
"Our expectation is that this revised capacity number finally brings consensus on this important issue. Aucklanders deserve certainty on this city-shaping plan change."
Bishop emphasised the actual plan would "still likely to be around 1.6 million".
“Advice from officials estimates that capacity enabled by PC120 is still likely to be around 1.6 million homes once mandatory requirements under the National Policy Statement on Urban Development and upzoning around the City Rail Link are taken into account."
Those mandates refer to existing rules that lock in intensification around train stations, busway stops and major town centres, which cannot be removed from the plan.
That figure — 1.6 million — is the same number Bishop had publicly circulated in February, before today's legislation formally reduced the minimum capacity floor to the lower level.
“This means Auckland Council will still need to provide for significant housing growth, including upzoning around key transit corridors and town centres," Bishop said.
Cabinet has agreed to reduce the minimum housing capacity the supercity must zone for from approximately two million dwellings to 1.6 million. (Source: 1News)
How exactly the reduction plays out, suburb by suburb, remains to be seen. Bishop has left it to Auckland Council decide which specific areas to downzone.
The legislation would also allow about 400 developers and property owners who had been partway through building consents under the now-scrapped Medium Density Residential Standards and Plan Change 78 (PC78) to continue their projects.
Today's announcement comes after months of political turbulence over the plan.
When Bishop unveiled the 1.6 million figure in February, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown said he only learned of the change hours before and said the numbers shift was designed to calm "some worried elderly residents in Epsom".
What will the new PC120 look like?
Auckland Council agreed to a set of principles for how it would revise PC120 earlier this month, under the notion of a legislated 1.6 million figure.
They included:
1. Retaining government-mandated upzoning within walking distance of train stations at Maungawhau, Kingsland, Morningside, Mount Albert and Baldwin Avenue set to benefit from the City Rail Link — and as required by the Government.
2. Retain intensification that "maximises investment in the City Rail Link."
3. Decrease housing capacity "using a distance of more than ten kilometres from the city centre as a starting point."
4. Decrease housing capacity through reassessing the intensification along corridors, starting with the lower-ranked bus corridors.
5. Decrease in the amount of Mixed Housing Urban zoned land — up to three-storey homes — in areas which do not have good access to public transport or the city centre.
6. Providing "a buffer from the minimum 1.6 million dwellings to enable the Independent Hearings Panel some flexibility in their deliberations when making recommendations."
7. Retain the current downzoning for natural hazards.
8. Retain qualifying matters as notified.
9. Investigate opportunities for additional downzoning for natural hazards.
Bishop said the legislation introduced today would "be progressed quickly to minimise disruption" to the existing council and hearings panel process.
“Once the new capacity requirement is in place, Auckland Council will decide which parts of the plan change to withdraw or amend," he said.
“If parts are withdrawn, the existing Auckland Unitary Plan zoning will remain in place.
“For parts that continue, updated provisions and maps will be made publicly available, and Aucklanders will have further opportunities to provide feedback.”
“This process will be transparent, and Aucklanders will be able to have their say.
"The independent hearings panel will then consider submissions and make recommendations before Auckland Council makes final decisions on Plan Change 120.”
What's not changing?
The Government has made it clear that it wants the legislated upzoning of five key train stations, set to benefit from the opening of the City Rail Link this year, to continue.
This would mean allowing for at least 15-storey apartment buildings around Maungawhau, Kingsland, and Morningside train stations and at least 10 storeys for Baldwin Ave and Mt Albert train stations.
That distinction matters for inner-city suburbs like Mt Eden, home to a new City Rail Link station, where residents have been among the fiercest opponents of the plan but may find significant parts of intensification from PC120 unchanged.
In addition, there would continue to be requirements for apartment zoning around rapid transit lines and major town centres — as had been introduced in PC78 and the national policy statement for urban development.
Building heights of at least six storeys would be allowed for 800 metres around train and busway stations and metropolitan centres — such as Takapuna, Westgate, or Botany, among others.
What is Plan Change 120?
PC120, or Plan Change 120, previously zoned the Auckland region for a maximum of two million homes. It replaced the controversial PC78, known as the townhouse bill, which was abandoned by the current coalition government.
Labour's PC78 also zoned for around two million homes, but densified most suburban areas in Auckland under so-called 3x3 provisions - meaning property owners were entitled in most instances to build up to three properties, three storeys tall on one site.
Released late last year, PC120, as previously notified, provided for the same theoretical maximum, but concentrated dense zoning around town centres, train and busway stations, and high-capacity bus routes.
In practice, this means significantly more density in central isthmus suburbs, around town centres, and higher-capacity public transport routes.
It also introduced stronger rules limiting development in high-risk flood and coastal hazard areas — something the previous legislation did not allow the council to do.
Two million homes?
The much-bandied-about "two million homes" has become a lightning rod of political opposition in recent months – although it has effectively been around since 2021 as a modelled number of dwellings zoned for in new citywide plan changes.
National’s priorities for the campaign have been outlined, including a dial-back on housing intensification in Auckland. (Source: 1News)
PC120 currently creates zoning capacity for approximately two million homes across Auckland. That doesn't mean that many dwellings will be built — not every homeowner will choose to redevelop, and not every site will be built to its maximum permitted levels.
But the figure represents the theoretical ceiling of what could be constructed if every eligible site were developed to its full potential.
The reason the figure needs to be so high, supporters say, is that zoning capacity must significantly exceed actual demand for the market to provide enough affordable homes.
They argue that a wide margin of theoretical capacity is what allows prices to respond to demand — and what gives developers enough choice of sites to make projects viable.
But critics have ridiculed the two million figure as proof that the proposal goes too far.
Opponents have seized on the figure as shorthand for unchecked densification, arguing it would signal the transformation of established neighbourhoods. Suburban residents have also raised concerns about the amenity impacts of allowing taller buildings.
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