Storm recovery update – 20 March 2025

Welcome to our monthly update on recovery efforts since major storms in early 2023.

Categorisation

Overall, 3547 property owners have registered for the categorisation scheme. While registrations have now closed, the Recovery Office continues its work categorising remaining properties, guiding registered homeowners through the Category 3 buy-out and Category 2P mitigation process, and supporting affected households via the Navigation Service. 

We are 95% of the way through categorisations, having confirmed category outcomes for 3366 properties (as of 20 March). Of these, 3188 have continued through the process to receive an official category, with 1116 classed as Category 3 and eligible for a buy-out and 141 are eligible for construction grants to reduce the risk at their home. 

This has been supported by a huge effort from our technical and engineering teams having completed 3479 desktop assessments and 2693 site assessments. 

Most homeowners still waiting for a category had registered later in the programme. However, there are some homeowners that have been waiting for some time because their situation is more complicated, including the need to understand if a community or property mitigation will reduce the risk at their home to a reasonable level. 

With registrations now closed, we expect to have confirmed all categorisations in the next few months, with the buy-out process continuing through the year, and our home removal programme into 2026. 

See detailed categorisation tables further below. 

Category 3 buy-outs

Now that registrations are closed, and we have completed over 3000 assessments, we have confirmed 1116 Category 3 homes and expect this number to reach over 1200. 

903 Category 3 homeowners have received or accepted a buy-out valuation, and 608 buy-outs have been fully completed. With each situation being unique, we are working as flexibly as we can to support homeowners to make their decisions - while remaining fair across the programme. 

High risk home removal

Across Auckland we’ve removed 178 high risk homes on Category 3 properties. Around 1200 homes expected to be either be removed or have the risk reduced at the property for the likes of multi-units. 

The council’s panel of removal companies are currently working on clusters of homes or have completed the removal of homes in Muriwai, Rānui/Henderson/Swanson, Mt Eden, Epsom, Milford, and across Rodney, while work continues at one-off sites across the city.  

Relocation of the homes is the preferred option to reduce waste to landfill. Over 30% of the homes have been relocated so far, providing homes for families across the upper North Island. Deconstruction and reuse of the materials is the second preference if relocation isn’t possible, with most of the materials going to community recycling centres to be reused by local residents. In some cases, demolition is the best option but we still try to salvage as much as we can. 

Maintenance of storm affected land 

Council-owned vacant land will be maintained to ensure a ‘kept look’ with a focus on maintaining areas visible from roads and footpaths (i.e. berms and front yards on properties that have road frontages). A budget of $39.4 million has been allocated over 10 years for ongoing maintenance including things like mowing and tree trimming. If you would like to report any maintenance issues please email recoveryoffice@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or if you see any suspicious behaviour please report it to the police. 

Storm affected land: future use 

A policy guiding future land use for these properties will soon reach final signoff by the council's Policy and Planning Committee. The aim is to repurpose land to the best use possible, with safety being the number one priority. 

The future use of vacant land may take several years to be determined, with more than 1200 high-risk properties expected to be purchased by Auckland Council. 

We want to ensure Auckland’s land is used effectively to provide homes and maintain strong communities, while managing risk and reducing the financial impact to ratepayers. 

If we keep the land, options for use could include: 

• flood resilience and stream management  

• adding it to neighbouring parkland or bush  

• managing it as high-hazard land. 

If we don’t keep the land, options could include: 

• sale for safe redevelopment 

• sale with conditions to manage the risk (eg. converting ground floor units to storage) 

• sale to neighbours for extra backyard space. 

To find out more or make a suggestion about a vacant property visit ourauckland.nz/futureuse.  

Recovery progress information

Categorisation progress (at 14 March 2025) 

Note: Not every home will need a site assessment, but some may need more than one

Categories confirmed (at 20 March 2025)

*​A small number of properties that have registered for the programme are ineligible, including those with vacant land, commercial/non-residential properties, or properties owned by public service providers. The programme is focused on addressing risk to life in residential situations. 

Category 3 buy-out progress (at 14 March 2025)

Categories by suburb (at 20 March)

*An additional 178 cases were ineligible or withdrawn