Auckland Council agrees approach to city-wide intensification

Auckland Council’s Planning Committee has agreed to a preliminary approach to enable more higher-density buildings of at least two to three storeys in areas across the city with good public transport links and walking and cycling options to jobs, key services, and with high housing demands

As required by the government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD), all ‘tier one’ councils across New Zealand must enable building heights and density across their cities to match either the level of active and public transport access a location has to jobs, shops, schools, and other services or the relative (or the highest) demand for housing.

This requirement relates to all locations across urban Auckland outside of the city centre, metropolitan centres and walkable catchments around these centres and rapid transit stops, which are subject to other specific NPS-UD intensification policies.

To meet NPS-UD requirements, the council proposes that locations with either a high demand for housing or high levels of access to active (such as walking and cycling) and public transport options will have no maximum density rules and enable buildings of at least two storeys in height. This means that in some places more than two storeys may be appropriate.

Alternately, in areas that have both high demand and high accessibility it’s proposed to have no density rules and enable buildings of at least three storeys in height. This means that in some places more than three storeys may be appropriate.

Further policy and technical work will now begin to identify the locations across the city with high access and high demand and to assess this preliminary approach.

Aucklanders will have an opportunity to provide their feedback to inform the council’s approach during public engagement in March or April next year and again in formal public submissions on changes to the Auckland Unitary Plan in August 2022.