The 2023 floods were a turning point for Auckland. They showed that not all land is safe for new homes, and stronger rules are needed to protect people and property.
The council’s previous planning requirements – called Plan Change 78 – were a response to the last government’s direction to allow more high-density and three-storey housing across the region. But the law behind Plan Change 78 prevented the council from strengthening rules to limit new homes in high-risk areas. Since the floods, the council has advocated strongly for that to change.
Now, the government has given the council this opportunity. A replacement plan change to the Auckland Unitary Plan – the city’s planning rulebook - would allow stronger rules to be introduced to make homes more robust and limit new homes in areas at high-risk of floods, coastal erosion and inundation and focus homes in safer, well-connected locations near jobs, shop, services and rapid transport like trains.
To do this, the government directs the council to enable the same, or greater, housing capacity as provided for in its current plans.
What's happening?
On 21 August 2025, Auckland Council’s Policy and Planning Committee agreed to release a draft plan change for feedback from local boards and mana whenua. On 24 September 2025, the committee decided to withdraw Plan Change 78 and replace it with a new plan change - called Plan Change 120 - for the public submissions.
Read on to get the facts (and the myths) on the draft changes to Auckland's planning rules.
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.
Think of capacity like seats in a stadium. There are plenty of places to sit, but not every seat needs to be filled. Housing capacity is trickier to fill than seats in a stadium. It needs many different parts to come together to turn capacity – the space for homes – into real, built homes.
What gets built is 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. 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 also helps affordability, when there’s plenty of land available for housing, it encourages more choices 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
With recent law changes, Auckland Council has a choice.
It can choose between continuing with Plan Change 78 – requirements from the last government that allowed more medium and high-density housing across the region. Or having a replacement plan change that will introduce stronger rules to better protect people and property for floods and other hazards.
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 they don’t require development to happen or that every site becomes an apartment building. Property owners and developers decide what happens based on market demand and development usually happens gradually, typically over decades.
Upzoning provides more housing choices. Even in areas allowing apartments, there will still be a mix of housing types, such as townhouses.
Under the draft change, more homes would be enabled where people can have easy access to jobs, services and transport infrastructure. This is within a 15-minute walk of the city centre, or a 10-minute walk of 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 Auckland’s population is expected to grow by about 600,000 people over the next 30 years, to around 2.3 million in total.
Housing capacity is not a population target. The capacity for two million homes is a requirement of central government and is about planning for long-term market demand, where it is better to enable more rather than less. It is not a forecast of actual population growth.
Myth: “The draft plan forces billions in new infrastructure immediately.”
Fact: Infrastructure is delivered gradually, in step with growth
The draft plan doesn’t require new infrastructure to be built right away, and it does not require infrastructure for two million homes. Instead, 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. Homes are built gradually, and infrastructure upgrades happen in step with the demand for housing.
Myth: “Walkable catchment distances are set ‘as the crow flies’ in circles on a map.”
Fact: Walkable catchments are based on real walking routes, not straight lines.
Walkable catchments aren’t simple circles or straight-line distances. They are mapped using the actual routes people can walk, taking into account steep hills, pedestrian crossings, and barriers like motorways or major roads that may limit the distance people can walk. Each catchment has a different shape depending on local conditions. The walking distances are based on academic research and planning practices used in other cities.
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 also cannot force redevelopment. Also, some property owners may not choose to sell or redevelop. About 73 per cent of special character properties will keep their status, or 15,357 homes in total, while more housing choices are being focused near public transport, jobs, and services.
The law requires the council to enable buildings of 15 storeys around the Maungawhau, Kingsland, and Morningside train stations to maximise the opportunities that the $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, and to ensure development is focused where 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 council's Future Development Strategy, and 74 per cent supported more housing near jobs, shops and everyday 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 (undeveloped land) remains an important part of the council’s overall strategy for Auckland’s growth and for making sure people have housing choices. However, the council wants 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 has been rezoned for housing. Areas like Drury — 22,000 homes and $2.5b in 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 such as water, roads and public transport.
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.
