Over the past twelve months, Auckland has quietly gone through the most consequential rewrite of its planning rules since the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP) became operative in 2016. Plan Change 120 (PC120) — the council's combined "housing intensification and resilience" package — has been notified, submitted on, reshaped by new government legislation, and, as of July 2026, approved for a second round of public consultation.
If you own property in Auckland, are weighing up a subdivision or townhouse project, or are simply trying to work out what your section might be worth in five years, PC120 is the document that will decide much of that answer. Here is how we got here, what has changed over the past year, and what it means on the ground.
How PC120 came about: the death of PC78
To understand PC120, you need to start with its predecessor. Plan Change 78 (PC78) was Auckland's response to the previous government's Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), which would have permitted up to three dwellings of three storeys on most urban residential sites across the city — including many sites in flood plains and far from public transport.
Two things killed that approach. The first was the January 2023 Anniversary Weekend floods, which exposed how much of Auckland's proposed intensification sat in harm's way and hardened the council's resolve to write tougher natural-hazard rules. The second was a change of policy direction in Wellington: central government made the MDRS optional for councils, and new legislation passed in August 2025 gave Auckland Council the tools to take a different path.
The council took it. In September 2025 it withdrew most of PC78 (the City Centre Zone provisions, and later the Metropolitan Centre Zone provisions, survived and now have legal effect) and endorsed a replacement. On 3 November 2025, Auckland Council publicly notified Plan Change 120.
What PC120 originally proposed
PC120 does two big things at once, and it is important to see them as a package:
1. It concentrates housing growth where the infrastructure is. Instead of blanket three-storey rights across every suburban street, PC120 directs high-density development into "walkable catchments" — generally 800 metres around rapid transit stations and metropolitan centres, and 1,200 metres around the city centre — plus town centres and selected frequent bus corridors. Around the five Western Line stations that ring the City Rail Link (Maungawhau, Kingsland, Morningside, Mt Albert and Baldwin Ave), legislated building heights of 10 and 15 storeys apply.
2. It significantly tightens natural-hazard controls. PC120 introduces stronger rules for flooding, overland flow paths, landslide susceptibility (drawing on the council's first region-wide landslide study in almost 30 years, TR2025/7), coastal erosion and coastal inundation. Critically, under section 86B(3) of the Resource Management Act, some of these hazard rules took immediate legal effect from notification — meaning they already apply to resource consent applications today, well before PC120 is finalised.
PC120 also introduced a third, less-discussed element that developers should not overlook: requirements to demonstrate that a proposed development can actually connect to Watercare's water and wastewater networks. Infrastructure capacity is moving from a background assumption to an explicit consenting question.
The first submission window ran from 3 November to 19 December 2025 and attracted more than 5,000 submissions.
The 2026 twist: the capacity target drops from 2 million to 1.4 million
Just as hearings preparation was getting under way, the ground shifted again. On 2 April 2026, the Resource Management (Auckland Housing) Amendment Act was enacted, cutting Auckland's mandatory long-term housing capacity requirement from roughly two million homes to a minimum of approximately 1.4 million.
That single number change forced a rethink of the entire plan change. With a lower target, the council no longer needed to upzone as widely, and it moved to re-scope PC120 around a simpler logic: keep the density where the billions in transport and water investment have already gone, and pull it back everywhere else. The standard "further submissions" process was cancelled, and the council signalled a fresh, full round of public submissions instead. A dedicated PC120 Map Viewer went live on 6 June 2026, letting anyone check their parcel's proposed zone, management layers and qualifying matters.
July 2026: the revised package
On 21 July 2026, the council's Policy, Planning and Development Committee approved the revised package of proposed changes for public notification. Mayor Wayne Brown described the outcome as a compromise, saying "our decision delivers a good, balanced outcome". The headline changes:
Retained:
- Government-mandated walkable catchments around rapid transit stations, metropolitan centres and the city centre.
- The legislated 15-storey heights at Maungawhau, Kingsland and Morningside, and 10 storeys at Baldwin Avenue and Mt Albert, plus 10–15 storey heights in a number of other walkable catchments within 10 km of the city centre (Meadowbank Station is the exception, proposed to drop to six storeys).
- Additional housing around most town centres (places like St Lukes, Northcote and Onehunga) and along selected frequent bus routes within 10 km of the city centre.
- Stronger natural-hazard rules, now with additional downzoning in the most vulnerable areas based on updated flood modelling and rainfall data.
Removed or scaled back:
- Walkable catchments beyond 10 km of the city centre generally reduce to the government-mandated six storeys.
- Additional housing around smaller local centres (such as Blockhouse Bay or Grey Lynn) is removed, reverting to current AUP rules.
- Additional intensification along frequent bus routes beyond 10 km of the city centre is removed.
- Parts of the original PC120 proposal no longer being progressed are being partially withdrawn, narrowing the plan change's geographic footprint.
The net effect: around 85 per cent of Auckland's urban area stays under the existing 2016 Unitary Plan rules. Theoretical housing capacity moves from roughly 1.2 million homes under the current AUP to an estimated 1.5–1.7 million under the revised proposal — comfortably above the new 1.4 million floor, but far below the original two-million-plus ambition.
What this means for Auckland development
If your site is within 10 km of the city centre and near rapid transit, you are the winner. The CRL catchments — particularly around the Western Line stations — retain the most generous height entitlements in Auckland's history. Land near Maungawhau, Kingsland, Morningside, Mt Albert and Baldwin Ave, and around inner metropolitan and town centres, is where the development economics now concentrate. Expect land values, site amalgamation activity and pre-application interest to keep flowing to these corridors.
If your site is suburban and beyond 10 km, the upzoning window has largely closed. Sites that hoped for MDRS-style three-storey rights, or for extra height along outer bus corridors and around local centres, will generally revert to the 2016 AUP framework — Mixed Housing Suburban and Mixed Housing Urban rules, existing minimum lot sizes for vacant subdivision, and the familiar consent pathways. Feasibility built on "proposed" PC120 heights in these areas needs to be re-run on operative AUP settings.
Hazard overlays are the new deal-breaker. This is the change most likely to catch buyers out. Flood plains, overland flow paths, landslide-susceptible slopes and coastal hazard areas face stricter — in some places downzoned — controls, and several hazard rules already have immediate legal effect on consent applications. A site's hazard status can now matter more than its zone. Before purchasing any development site, check both the operative AUP and the PC120 layers together, and budget for geotechnical and flood assessments where overlays apply.
Infrastructure evidence is becoming part of consenting. The Watercare connection requirements signal that "can the pipes actually serve this development?" will be asked earlier and more formally. For subdivision and multi-unit projects, three-waters capacity checks belong at the front of due diligence, not the end.
Uncertainty remains until mid-2027. PC120 is well advanced but not final. The revised package must go through a further submission round — expected to run for four weeks from late August 2026 — followed by an Independent Hearings Panel, with final council decisions expected in mid-2027. Existing submissions remain valid, and anyone (including those who missed the first round) can submit in the new window. Until decisions are released, prudent feasibility work models both the operative AUP and the proposed PC120 outcome for any given site.
The practical checklist
Before committing to an Auckland purchase or project in the current environment:
- Look up the site in the council's PC120 Map Viewer and the operative AUP viewer — read the proposed zone, management layers and qualifying matters together.
- Check hazard layers first: flood plain, overland flow path, landslide susceptibility, coastal erosion/inundation. Some rules apply now.
- Confirm three-waters serviceability with Watercare early, especially for subdivision or multi-dwelling projects.
- If your strategy depends on proposed (not operative) zoning, price in the risk that heights or zones shift again before mid-2027 — and consider making a submission in the late-August 2026 window.
Auckland's message after a year of PC120 is now unmistakable: density is heading to the places the city has already spent billions preparing — and away from the floodplains. For the 15 per cent of the city in the spotlight, the opportunity is substantial. For everyone else, the 2016 rulebook is back, and the smart money is re-reading it.
HouGarden tracks Auckland planning changes and their impact on property values and development feasibility. Search any Auckland address on HouGarden to see zoning, sales history and suburb data — and talk to a licensed planner or surveyor before committing to a development site.
Sources: Auckland Council PC120 notifications and committee decisions (Nov 2025 – Jul 2026); Resource Management (Auckland Housing) Amendment Act 2026; Auckland Council media release, 21 July 2026.
