by Metropol | September 17, 2025 8:31 am
Christchurch City Council will ask the Minister responsible for Resource Management Act (RMA) reform to let it opt out of some upcoming housing intensification rules under its Housing and Business Choice Plan Change (Plan Change 14).
At its meeting on 3 September, the Council agreed to request approval from Minister Chris Bishop to withdraw parts of Plan Change 14 related to the national Medium-Density Residential Standards (MDRS) before the Government’s 12 December deadline.
The Council has already accepted some recommendations from an independent hearings panel to increase medium-density housing in certain areas. This helps meet legal housing capacity requirements needed to apply for the opt-out.
These approved areas include the city centre and suburbs like Riccarton, Hornby, Linwood, Shirley, Merivale, Edgeware, and Papanui.
Mayor Phil Mauger said the opt-out request aims to put Christchurch on a better path for the future. He explained that the MDRS rules, which allow up to three houses of three storeys on a property without consent, don’t suit Christchurch’s unique needs.
“MDRS across all our residential areas was never the best fit for Christchurch, and, because of this, we’ve worked hard over the past few years on a plan change process that’s had to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation,” Mayor Phil says.
“Up until recently, opting out of MDRS wasn’t even an option, but now it is, and we’ve voted as a council to go down that path rather than carry on with something that wasn’t right for us from the get-go.
“The decisions we’ve made today, which build on the ones we made last year, will help set our city up for the future, ensuring we have more than enough housing capacity built into our planning rulebook for the next few decades.
“Our population is growing, which is an excellent problem to have, but it means we need to plan wisely for more houses in the right places – close to our growing commercial centres, where there’s good access to services, public transport networks, and infrastructure.
“I’m confident that today’s decisions achieve all of that and, importantly, put us in a solid position to request an opt-out from MDRS’s one-size-fits-all approach to housing intensification.”
To apply for the opt-out, the Council must show it has zoned enough land for 30 years of high housing demand plus a 20% buffer, which is about 65,600 houses.
The Council’s recent decisions allow it to request the opt-out while still supporting significant housing growth in the right places, near commercial centres, public transport, and infrastructure.
All changes take effect immediately and will be published online for public viewing.
Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/opt-out-from-housing-intensification/
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