On 21 August 2025, Auckland Council’s Policy and Planning Committee agreed to release a draft change to Auckland’s planning rules for feedback from local boards and mana whenua.
The committee will make further decisions on 24 September 2025 about whether to withdraw and replace Plan Change 78 and notify a replacement plan change for the public to make submissions.
Plan Change 78 was Auckland’s response to the last government’s direction to allow more medium and high-density housing across the region. Until now, legislation for Plan Change 78 prevented the council from strengthening rules to limit new homes being built in areas at risk of floods and other natural hazards.
A replacement plan change allows the council to introduce stronger rules to better protect people and property in high-risk areas. These plan changes do not replace the Auckland Unitary Plan but will make significant changes to its rules for how the city could grow in urban areas.
Read on to get the facts (and the myths) on the draft replacement plan change.
Myth: Two million homes will be built.
Fact: Housing capacity is not a building target
- The draft plan allows for capacity for up to two million dwellings in residential areas and business zones over the next 30 years – but that’s not a target for construction.
- Capacity is the maximum that could be built if every suitable site was fully developed. It’s about supporting the supply of housing long-term, not what will actually be built or when.
- What gets built will be up to property owners and developers. Auckland has built around 14,000 homes per year since 2018 (approximately 100,000 homes) — its fastest pace ever. Even at that pace, it would take over 100 years to reach two million.
- The council’s projections for housing demand over the next 30 years are around 241,000 new homes. Extra capacity is deliberate – it gives developers choices in locations and housing types, to meet market demand and provide flexibility for long term shifts in the housing market and population.
- It helps affordability. Having plenty of land available for potential housing encourages more choice and market competition, which helps ease price pressure over time.
Myth: The council can push back on two million homes.
Fact: Housing capacity is required by the government, it is not optional
- The council can choose between progressing Plan Change 78 or having a replacement plan change.
- Under the government’s law changes, if the council withdraws Plan Change 78, it must replace it with a new plan change that still provides for at least the same capacity that Plan Change 78 currently enables – which is approximately two million homes.
- Plan Change 78 doesn’t legally allow the council to strengthen rules to better protect people and property. It also enables widespread three-storey medium density housing across almost every residential site in Auckland, including areas with poor access to public transport.
- A replacement plan change gives the council the ability to introduce stronger rules to limit new homes in high-risk areas and give greater focus to building homes in safer, well-connected places — near town centres and major transport infrastructure all Aucklanders have paid for.
Myth: Every street will turn into apartment blocks.
Fact: Housing types will still be mixed
- Zoning rules only set out what could be built over the next 30 years but don’t require development to happen or that every site becomes an apartment building.
- Upzoning provides more housing choices. Even in areas allowing apartments, there will still be a mix of housing types, such as townhouses.
- Property owners and developers decide what happens based on market demand and development usually happens gradually, typically over decades.
- More homes would be enabled where people can have easy access to jobs, services and transport infrastructure. This is within walking distances of 15 minutes around the city centre, 10 minutes around major town centres, train stations and stations on the Northern and Eastern Busways, and along a number of major roads with frequent bus services.
- Building heights also depend on meeting rules for homes to have sunlight, privacy, allowing space between buildings, and to meet safety and engineering standards.
Myth: Building in expensive suburbs won’t improve affordability.
Fact: More homes and more choice eases price pressure
- For most homes, the land is the biggest cost. Allowing more homes on a site spreads the land cost across each home, lowering the average cost compared to a single house on a full section.
- While homes in expensive suburbs won’t suddenly be “cheap,” more choices – like townhouses and apartments – will offer more options at different price points.
- Locations near jobs, shops and transport are more desirable, which drives up demand and land values. Allowing for more housing choices in these locations increases choice and competition in the market, helping to slow price growth and improve affordability.
Myth: The new plan will add millions more people.
Fact: Auckland is not planning for millions more people
- The council’s projections show population growth of about 600,000 people is expected over the next 30 years (to around 2.3 million in total).
- The capacity for two million homes is a requirement of central government and is about planning for long term demand where it is better to enable for more rather than less, not the actual demand.
Myth: The draft plan forces billions in new infrastructure immediately.
Fact: Infrastructure is delivered gradually, in step with growth
- Homes are built gradually, and infrastructure upgrades happen in step with demand.
- The draft plan doesn’t require new infrastructure to be built right away, and it does not require infrastructure for two million homes.
- It provides for where future growth could go within the urban area and what can be built over the long-term, based on market demand.
Myth: Special character homes will be destroyed.
Fact: Most special character remains, and heritage is legally protected
- In areas where special character status is removed, property owners decide what happens with their property. The council cannot force redevelopment and some property owners may never choose to redevelop.
- About 73 per cent of special character properties will keep their status, or 15,357 homes in total, while even more housing choices have been focused near public transport, jobs, and services.
- The law requires the council to enable buildings of 15 storeys around Maungawhau, Kingsland, and Morningside train stations to maximise the opportunities that the $5.5 billion investment in City Rail Link will bring.
- Some homes in these areas have special character status. To meet the legal requirement to enable 15-storey buildings, plus ensure development is focused so more people can make the most of the investment in the City Rail Link, additional changes to remove this status would need to be made around Maungawhau, Kingsland and Morningside train stations.
- Most changes to special character were already made in 2022 under Plan Change 78 after regionwide public consultation and are carried forward into the draft changes for this replacement plan.
Myth: The council is forcing more housing within the city because it doesn’t want greenfield development.
Fact: Auckland’s growth balances both urban and greenfield development
- Aucklanders support focusing growth in existing urban areas with 66 per cent backing this through consultation on the Future Development Strategy, and 74 per cent supported more housing near jobs, shops and services.
- Overall, 82 per cent of new homes are built in existing urban areas, showing market demand is strongest near jobs, shops, public transport, and existing infrastructure.
- Growth in greenfield areas also remains an important part of the council’s overall strategy for Auckland’s growth and for making sure people have housing choices. However, we want to avoid new homes in places without the necessary infrastructure and services. That’s not good for communities, our environment or people’s well-being.
- Since 2016, several thousand hectares of greenfield land have been rezoned for housing. Areas like Drury (22,000 homes, $2.5b infrastructure) are already underway. A further 9,500 hectares of greenfield land is already identified in the Auckland Unitary Plan for future urban development over the decades to come, to be sequenced with the delivery of infrastructure like roads and water pipes.
- Although, expanding at the city fringes is not cheap. Providing transport infrastructure alone for greenfield areas earmarked for future development could cost more than $80 billion.
