This week Auckland Council's Policy and Planning Committee will make decisions on potential changes to the regions planning rulebook – the Auckland Unitary Plan.
It will consider whether to replace the current planning rules – known as Plan Change 78 – and replace them with a new plan change that would go out for public submissions later this year.
Here is what you need to know about what is happening.
1. Why is this happening now?
Flooding and other hazards are significant challenges for Auckland. The severe weather events that hit Auckland in 2023 were a turning point showing that not all land is suitable for new homes and stronger planning rules are needed to better protect people and property.
Since March 2023, Auckland Council has been advocating for law change to strengthen planning rules in areas at high risk of hazards like flooding and coastal erosion.
New government legislation in August 2025 now gives Auckland the ability to withdraw the existing planning requirements – called Plan Change 78 – and notify a replacement plan change. Should it decide to do so, the law requires the council to make this decision by 10 October 2025.
2. The decision facing the council
On 24 September, the council will decide whether to withdraw Plan Change 78 and notify a new replacement plan change for public submissions (this would need agreement from the Minister for Resource Management Reform) or continue with Plan Change 78.
3. The current rules - Plan Change 78
Plan Change 78 is a set of changes to Auckland’s planning rules directed by the previous government. It allows for more housing, like apartments, in walking distances of the city centre, metropolitan centres like Newmarket and Manukau and rapid transit stops such as train stations around busway stations.
It also has blanket rules for allowing three-storey homes across almost all residential areas in Auckland.
The law behind Plan Change 78 is focused on increasing housing. It prevented the council from introducing stronger rules to limit buildings in areas at risk of floods and other hazards. While the blanket three-storey housing rules also enabled homes in places with limited access to public transport, far from jobs, shops and everyday services.
4. Housing capacity will remain similar
The council must choose between continuing with Plan Change 78 or replacing it with a new plan change.
If the council decides not to continue with Plan Change 78, the law requires a new plan change to enable at least the same amount of housing capacity - approximately two million homes. So regardless of the choice - Plan Change 78 or replacing it with a new plan change – the housing capacity will be similar.
Housing capacity is the maximum amount of homes that could be built if every site in Auckland was fully developed under the council’s planning rules. Extra capacity beyond anticipated population growth is deliberate. This is to give developers plenty of choices in locations and housing types to meet market demand for homes over the long-term.
5. Stronger rules to better protect people and property
Draft changes to Auckland’s planning rules would introduce stronger rules to steer buildings away from high-risk areas for flooding, landslides, coastal erosion, and inundation.
More restrictive consenting rules for building in high-risk areas will give the council stronger powers to decide whether development can go ahead. In the worst-affected areas the council’s low-density Single House zone would mostly apply.
Other measures include tighter risk assessments for new builds in natural hazard areas, protecting floodplains and overland flow paths from being built over, and requiring higher standards for new homes and subdivisions to cope with floods, sea-level rise, and landslides.
6. Meeting Government requirements
A replacement plan change for Plan Change 78 is specifically required to allow for more homes in walking distances to five key train stations to maximise the transport and economic opportunities of the $5.5 billion City Rail Link investment.
This includes enabling:
- 15-storey buildings in walkable catchments around Maungawhau, Kingsland, and Morningside train stations.
- 10-storey buildings around Mt Albert and Baldwin Avenue stations.
As with Plan Change 78, the council must also allow higher-density housing (like apartments) within walking distances around the city centre, major metropolitan centres and rapid transit stops, including train stations and Northern and Eastern busway stops.
The walkable catchments are walking distances of about:
- 15-minutes (about 1,200 m) around the city centre.
- 10-minutes (about 800 m) around trains stations, Northern and Eastern Busway stops and Auckland’s large metro centres: These are Newmarket, Manukau, New Lynn, Sylvia Park, Botany, Papakura, Takapuna, Henderson, Albany, Westgate, and Drury.
These walking distances reflect actual walking routes people use and consider local conditions like steep hills, and barriers like motorways or crossing major roads.
All walkable catchments would enable buildings of six storeys, and many other catchments would enable heights of 10 or 15 storeys.
The new law also allows the council to remove the blanket rules for three-storey homes across most of Auckland’s urban area. However, if it does, the council must still enable capacity for the same number of homes as Plan Change 78 - approximately two million.
7. Housing in safer, well-connected places
To meet government requirements for housing capacity and introduce stronger rules for flooding and other hazards, the draft plan has a greater focus on enabling homes in safer, well-connected areas near jobs, shops, services, and public transport.
This could allow more choices for more people to access major transport infrastructure that all Aucklanders have paid for and aims to get the best return on public investment. This includes the $5.5 billion invested in the City Rail Link, which will bring faster, more frequent train services across the entire rail network from next year.
8. More homes along key main roads with frequent buses
Twenty-four of Auckland’s main roads with frequent bus routes will allow for more terraced housing and apartments — generally around 200 m back from the road on both sides. This provides more opportunities to live near frequent bus routes that connect neighbourhoods, major centres, other transport stations and are areas where housing demands are strong.
Apartments can already be built at some properties along these roads under the planning rules Auckland has now - the draft plan extends this to more properties and further back, with rules that allow for buildings up to six storeys.
9. Exemptions to limit building heights
Certain exemptions — called ‘qualifying matters’ — can limit building heights and density where taller buildings may not be suitable — for example, to protect sites with natural hazards
Strong evidence is needed to prove why building heights and density should be limited. This doesn’t stop development entirely, instead, it simply limits the height or density enough to ensure key features are preserved.
10. You can give your views
If the council decides to withdraw and replace Plan Change 78, Aucklanders will have a chance to have their say through public submissions. The submission period is expected to run from 3 November until 16 December 2025.
This will be a chance for people across Tāmaki Makaurau to share their views on the proposed planning changes before any final decisions are made.
