Photo: RNZ / Kate Newton
Auckland Council says 100,000 new homes have been built in the eight years since its planning rule book came into force.
It comes as the government plans to take back power from local councils if their decisions are going to negatively impact economic growth, development or employment.
Housing and Resource Management Act (RMA) reform minister Chris Bishop said the new regulation within the RMA would stop councils from stalling on housing developments.
Bishop said the provision would be added into the RMA amendment legislation currently before Parliament.
The Auckland Unitary Plan has governed what can be built and where since 2016, and the council has crunched numbers to show how many consented houses became reality.
The number of homes constructed rose from 10,200 in 2018 to a record 18,100 in 2023, with 17,200 built in 2024.
As of December 2024, there were 20,200 new homes in Auckland's housing pipeline - 13,800 under construction and 6,400 consented but not yet started.
Taking into account population growth, there were close to six homes per 1000 residents before the Unitary Plan came into force and now there are 9.5 homes per 1000 residents.
Auckland Council's chief economist Gary Blick. Photo: Supplied/Auckland Council
Auckland Council's chief economist Gary Blick said there had been a boost in new houses with 90 percent of consented houses being completed.
"What this data really shows is that the vast majority of building consents become new homes.
"It also shows that the changes that were made with the Unitary Plan in late 2016 have created a lot of development opportunities."
The housing pipeline is still sensitive to economic shifts, such as higher interest rates which contributed to fewer new projects starting construction from late 2022.
The number of new houses consented in Auckland last year dropped 10 percent to 13,939 compared with 2023.
The region's median house price of $1 million is 7.5 times the median income, compared to five times that in 2000 which in today's terms would be $680,000.
"That's how far we've slipped so what we really need to see is a sustained material improvement in housing," Blick said.
This month, the government announced it would allow Auckland Council to scrap its intensification plan change, called Plan Change 78.
It was required to develop three storey town houses throughout the city but put on hold due in part to 2023's flooding and cyclone.
Council must replace it with a change to the Unitary Plan that permits buildings of at least six stories around the City Rail Link stations in Mount Eden, Kingsland, Morningside, and others.
It has until October 10 to notify the plan change.
Blick said the focus should remain on enabling housing capacity in accessible places, such as close to town centres and transport options.
"That could mean making it easier for people to live and work near major transport infrastructure - like the City Rail Link - giving them faster commutes, better access to jobs and education, and easing pressure on our roads," he said.
More than half of the houses built in recent years have been town houses.
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