The Government’s new planning system will make it significantly easier to build the homes New Zealand needs and give homeowners greater freedom to improve and use their own property, RMA Reform and Housing Minister Chris Bishop says.
“For too long, the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) has acted as a handbrake on growth and opportunity. It is directly responsible for New Zealand’s housing crisis – despite us having a land mass comparable to the United Kingdom but just five million people.
“For years, report after report and inquiry after inquiry has found that our planning system, particularly restrictions on the supply of developable urban land, are at the heart of our housing affordability challenge.
“Our Going for Housing Growth programme focuses on fixing the fundamentals of our housing crisis: land supply, infrastructure, and incentives for growth. Ultimately, we want competitive urban land markets and abundant development opportunities to drive down land prices and create housing choice.
“A specific goal of the new Planning Bill is for the system to enable competitive urban land markets by making land available to meet current and expected demand for business and residential use and development. National Direction will follow, including the establishment of housing growth targets, rules making it easier for cities to expand outwards at the urban fringe, requirements to enable greater mixed-use zoning, and prohibitions on minimum floor area and balcony requirements.
“The system will build on the existing National Policy Statement on Urban Development and strengthen it, ensuring our cities and towns can grow in ways that support more housing, better infrastructure and vibrant communities.
“Our new planning system will deliver the most significant pro-housing reforms in a generation. The changes will give homeowners more freedom, speed up building, and create clear and consistent rules across the country.
“Planning rules will get a whole lot simpler. Right now, New Zealand has more than 1,100 different zones, each with its own set of rules. That’s a maze for anyone trying to build.
“Under the new system, we’ll hugely reduce that complexity by standardising zones nationwide and applying consistent rules for key things like building height, site coverage, and daylight access.
“This means developers can use the same designs anywhere in the country – no more juggling different rules for Upper Hutt versus Lower Hutt, or Christchurch versus Selwyn. It’s consistency where it counts, making development faster, easier, and more predictable.”
The Planning Bill will also enable more housing through changes that include:
- Everyone will be able to do more without needing council consent. The new system won’t control for things like the layout of your house, balconies, or private outdoor space, giving people more freedom to use their land how they see fit.
- Getting a consent will be simpler. If you do need a consent, the process will be more straightforward and cheaper. Rules will be clear, in more cases only affected people can take part in the consent process, and a new planning tribunal will help resolve disputes at low cost.
- Land will be released faster through a mechanism that removes the need for extra plan changes or long consultations where the land has been previously identified as suitable for development.
- Developers will have greater certainty to invest. Long-term spatial plans will show where new housing and infrastructure will go, so developers can plan projects and invest with confidence.
- Subdividing land will be easier. There will be more circumstances where subdivision is allowed.
- More information about the new planning system can be found here: https://environment.govt.nz/news/government-unveils-major-overhaul-of-new-zealands-planning-system
- Most Going for Housing Growth policy proposals will be implemented through national policy direction and national standards, which will be made once the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill are passed into law.
“Our Going for Housing Growth programme will be put into action in the new system, driven through strong national policy direction and clear standards set by the Government. We’ll give councils ambitious housing growth targets and set clear expectations to unlock capacity where it makes the most sense such as around key transport corridors. We’ll also remove outdated barriers like rural-urban boundary lines and allow a greater mix of residential and commercial activities in zones, making it easier to deliver homes and everyday services like dairies and cafes where New Zealanders need them most,” Mr Bishop says.
“These changes will finally give New Zealand the planning settings needed to meet demand, bring down costs, and increase housing choice.
“Spatial planning and clear national direction will give developers and homeowners certainty about what can be built, and where. Once these decisions are made, they cannot be revisited at each stage of the planning and consenting process. That means fewer surprises, fewer disputes, and faster decisions.
“The new system strengthens property rights and restores the freedom for New Zealanders to use their land in ways that affect nobody else. Councils will be required to provide relief when imposing heritage or indigenous biodiversity protection when these significantly affect the use of their land. This is a much-needed rebalancing away from a system that allowed councils to impose major costs on property owners without considering the impacts.”
The bills will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon. The Government aims to pass them into law in 2026.
National policy direction under the new system will be finalised within nine months of the bills becoming law. National standards will be delivered in stages and aligned with council plan-making needs.
New Zealanders will be invited to have their say on the legislation via the Select Committee process.