Buying guide
Plan change 120: New housing reform about to change Auckland
A 30-year roadmap for intensification & 160,000 new homes
AI summary
Plan Change 120 is a major update to Auckland's Unitary Plan, enabling capacity for 160,000 new homes through significant housing intensification.
The plan allows for buildings up to 15 stories near transport hubs in suburbs like Parnell and Mt Eden. It also strengthens natural hazard controls, downzoning high-risk flood areas and tightening consent rules.
Public submissions are open from May to June 2026, with a final decision expected in mid-2027 that will shape development for decades.
Housing intensity is a tricky issue in Auckland. Some claim intensification is happening in the wrong way, in the wrong places, affecting the character of neighbourhoods. Some are rightly worried about development in flood prone areas following the 2023 Auckland floods. Others say there’s simply not enough affordable homes and we need more intensification near transport corridors.
Plan Change 120 is the Auckland Council’s proposed solution - amending the Unitary Plan to enable capacity for up to 200,000 160,000 additional homes.
If you live in the Super City, especially in the central suburbs, these changes to the Auckland Unitary Plan will shape new housing development in your neighbourhood for the next three decades or more. Worth knowing about, I reckon.
TLDR - Summary of the important bits of Plan Change 120
- Changes Auckland’s Unitary Plan, with final decision due in June 2027.
- Will allow for a maximum of up to 160,000 new homes in Auckland.
- Aims to increase intensification along rapid transport corridors and CBD, with certain areas enabling buildings of 6, 10 or 15 stories (including leafy central suburbs like Parnell, Ponsonby, and Mt Eden).
- Includes strengthening of the council's ability to shape natural hazard controls and tighter consenting rules in flood prone areas following 2023 Auckland floods.
- The public can make submissions to council from 14 May to 5 June 2026.
Does this mean Auckland will get 160,000 new homes?
Almost certainly, no. This plan is all about zoning - or in other words, the rules governing what can be built, and where.
So what it really means is that developers are legally allowed (not required) to build a maximum of 160,000 new homes. They won’t build to the legal maximum, but this law change should mean we get more homes built in Auckland, in the places we really need them like near the CBD, bus stops, and train stations. Good stuff.
Mcveigh Fleming explained the impact of these changes to Auckland’s Unitary Plan succinctly in a December 2025 article:
“PC120 isn't a minor adjustment. It introduces major shifts in Auckland's planning framework that will directly impact how properties can be used, subdivided, redeveloped, and valued. For owners, buyers, and developers, these changes are creating both risk and opportunity.”
It’s important to note that change will happen slowly. In early 2026 the environment isn’t super friendly for developers and that may not change by the time this law is enacted, so it may take several years for any new homes enabled by this to come to market (thing 2028-2029 and beyond).
Ponsonby could be one of the most affected areas
Where are these new homes going to go?
This is the really interesting bit. The Plan Change is set to allow more townhouses in Auckland’s leafy central suburbs, and enable 6, 10, and 15 story apartment buildings along rail lines, major bus routes, train stations, and metropolitan areas.
The plan change identifies 44 areas that are within walkable distance from transport hubs and the CBD. That includes:
- 15 story building enabled in 22 catchment areas including within 800m of Mount Eden, Kingsland, and Morningside stations (and more)
- 10 story buildings enabled in 22 catchment areas including within 800m of Baldwin Avenue, and Mount Albert Stations (and more).
It also expands the areas where developers can build apartments and terraced housing of up to six stories high in up to 57 suburban areas, including large parts of Ponsonby, Remuera (gasp), Parnell, Grey Lynn, and a bit of Herne Bay.
Find out if your property could be affected by Plan Change 120
The best way to find out if your property, or neighborhood will be affected by this new rule change is to jump on Auckland Council’s Plan Change 120 map viewer. To make sense of it all it helps to use this legend.
If you can’t be bothered opening that link we’ve popped a screenshot below. Those bits circled in black below are the 44 catchment areas - pink means zoned for CBD business use, and dark orange is Residential Terrace Housing and Apartment Buildings Zone.
Note - not all properties in these areas will be enabled to build up to 10 or 15 stories. Qualifying matters still apply, meaning zoning may be changed to protect a certain feature or value. Examples include: Mana Whanua, heritage, coastal areas, natural resources, or special character.
View of the 44 catchment areas affected from Auckland Council’s Plan Change 120 map viewer.
What about the natural hazard and flood controls?
After the Auckland floods councillors and locals realised we’d been building stuff in places where we probably shouldn’t have been. Oops.
Plan Change 120 includes measures to help reduce exposure to natural hazards, such as:
- Downzoning areas at high flood risk to single house zones. That includes parts of Parnell, Point Chev, Glendowie, and Orakei.
- Applying stricter consenting frameworks to risky areas.
- Updated flood mapping that makes it easier to access data through this online tool.
- A new risk management framework, splitting areas into three tiers based on their risk, then requiring action based on that.
If you live in an area that was affected by the Auckland floods (or is otherwise flood prone) it’s worth looking into whether zoning has changed in your area. If you’re directly affected, you may even be notified by the council.
What’s next for Plan Change 120?
Plan Change 120 will help shape Auckland’s neighbourhoods for the next 30 years, so unsurprisingly there’s a lot of public interest. In fact, in the last round there were 10,500 submissions received - more than the original unitary plan. There’s another round coming from 4 May to 5 June 2026, where all members of the public can submit.
If you’d like to have a say, keep an eye out on this page, where Auckland Council usually announce that submissions are open (and you can find records of all other submissions, hearings, and decisions).
What comes next is deliberation and debate. Politicians will have their say, and so will special interest groups that either oppose or support the changes (think NIMBYS, developers, and/or groups supporting intensification).
Then, finally, sometime around mid 2027, Auckland Council will have a good look at the submissions, debate whether to make any amendments, and pass Plan Change 120 into law.
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