Watch live: Housing Minister Chris Bishop releases more detail on RMA housing rule shake-up
Housing Minister Chris Bishop
Photo:
RNZ/Calvin Samuel
More details about how proposed housing rule changes will work have been announced.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop on Wednesday released a discussion document on how the changes will work in with the
government's resource management reforms
.
"Next year we'll replace the RMA with a new planning system that makes it easier to plan and deliver the housing and infrastructure New Zealand needs.
"The new planning system is an enormous opportunity to create a planning system that enables and encourages housing growth," Bishop said.
The document provides more details on six planned law changes.
Last month ministers released proposed sweeping
changes to rules covering councils' oversight
for public consultation.
Under the proposed Resource Management Act changes,
granny flats of up to 70sqm, and papakāinga of up to 10 homes
would be allowed without a consent on specific land zones.
Papakāinga would also allow commercial activities of up to 100sqm, conservation activity, accommodation for up to eight guests, along with education, health, sports, marae, urupā and māra kai facilities.Medium papakāinga of up to 30 homes would be considered a "restricted discretionary" activity, with those of more than 30 units becoming "discretionary" activities.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Census scrapped
life and society politics 32 minutes ago The Census is to be scrapped, in the biggest change to how New Zealand counts its population in more than 70 years. Since 1951, the Census has gathered demographic data on every New Zealander every five years. But today Statistics Minister Shane Reti has confirmed from 2030, the Census will be replaced with a combination of administrative data from other government agencies, and smaller annual surveys that just a proportion of people will complete. Paul Spoonley is an emeritus professor at Massey University, with expertise in demography.


Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Saying Yes To Housing Growth
Minister of Housing Minister for RMA Reform New Zealanders have an opportunity to help shape the new planning system replacing the Resource Management Act (RMA) through public consultation on removing unnecessary barriers to housing growth, says Housing and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. 'New Zealand's house prices are among the most expensive in the developed world – a direct result of our current planning system making it too hard for our cities to grow up and out. 'Fixing our housing crisis involves fixing the fundamentals of our housing market - freeing up land for development and removing unnecessary planning barriers, improving infrastructure funding and financing to support urban growth, and providing incentives for communities and councils to support growth. 'Next year we'll replace the RMA with a new planning system that makes it easier to plan and deliver the housing and infrastructure New Zealand needs. 'The new planning system is an enormous opportunity to create a planning system that enables and encourages housing growth. 'Last year I announced the Government had committed to six major legislative changes to help free up land for housing and let our cities grow: The establishment of Housing Growth Targets for Tier 1 and 2 councils New rules making it easier for cities to expand outwards at the urban fringe A strengthening of the intensification provisions in the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) New rules requiring councils to enable a greater mixed-use zoning across our cities. The abolition of minimum floor area and balcony requirements New provisions making the Medium Density Residential Standards optional for councils. 'The discussion document I'm releasing today provides further detail on how these changes will operate in practice, and how they'll integrate into the government's resource management reforms. Feedback through the consultation process will be used to shape the development of the new planning system. 'The NPS-UD was a good starting point for strengthening housing growth in cities, but the government is committed to going further to help create competitive urban land markets and abundant development opportunities. The discussion document proposes a range of changes to strengthen the existing rules. 'As I indicated last week, the government is no longer proposing to make the MDRS optional for councils. This is because most councils (with three exceptions) have already changed their plans to include the MDRS, and so it would be inefficient and a waste of time and money to make them potentially change their plans in 2025 and 2026 when the new resource management system will go live in 2027. 'Bespoke legislative solutions have been designed for Auckland and Christchurch, reflected in the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill recently reported back to Parliament. In Auckland's case, it allows the Council to withdraw their existing plan change (PC78) and replace it with a new one, which provides the same level of capacity (or greater) in PC78, as well as strengthened density provisions around City Rail Link stations. 'The discussion document canvasses a range of important issues, including future development strategies and spatial planning, housing growth targets, responsive planning and rural-urban boundaries, intensification, enabling a mix of uses across urban environments and minimum floor area and balcony requirements. 'I encourage New Zealanders to share their views on these important issues by making a submission.' Public consultation on the Going for Housing Growth discussion document opens today at and will run until 17 August 2025. This is early non-statutory consultation and public feedback on will be used to shape the development of the new resource management system. Note:

RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Government reveals new powers in RMA reform
housing politics 9:06 am today The government will take back power from local councils if their decisions are going to negatively impact economic growth, development or employment. In a speech to business leaders at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce this morning Housing and RMA reform minister Chris Bishop has announced Cabinet will insert a new regulation power into the Resource Management Act. Before a Minister can use the power they would have to investigate the provision in question, check whether its consistent with the national direction under the RMA, and engage with the council. Chris Bishop expects the power to only be necessary until the new planning system is in place, but says it's necessary when councils use their power to stop growth. Political editor Jo Moir was at the Minister's speech this morning.