Remodelling housing in the country’s biggest city

The City Rail Link (CRL) will trigger Auckland’s next leap forward by refocusing the development of housing to apartments and townhouses in these areas, Peter Thompson, Barfoot & Thompson managing director says.

Already, the Government has mandated higher density housing in the vicinity of the CRL’s stations – 15 storeys high around the key stations of Maungawhau (Mount Eden), Kingsland and Morningside, and require upzoning allowing buildings of at least 10 storeys high around Mt Albert and Baldwin Ave stations.

As head of the city’s biggest residential real estate agency, Thompson says In the wake of these large housing complexes will come smaller, private initiatives filling in the gaps with apartments and town houses.

Higher density population within the CRL transport corridor will make greater use of existing infrastructure and services, adding life to the central city’s cafés and entertainment venues.

“It will also give the central business district’s 160,000 strong workforce an easy means of moving around.”   

Thompson says some will find such intensification a challenge and will miss the retention of the existing character of these areas.

Character Coalition chairwoman Sally Hughes  is convinced Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop wants to abolish “Special Character Areas” (SCA) of villas and bungalows for high-density housing.

Bishop highlighted single-storey villas in Kingsland hindering high-density development once the CRL opens.

A recent Cabinet paper estimated there are 20,000 homes within central Auckland suburbs which are commercially feasible and infrastructure-ready but prohibited by special character and volcanic viewshafts.

Coalition for More Homes spokesman Scott Caldwell says instead of well-designed apartments near existing rapid transit, there are townhouse and single-family development clogging the motorways. “This way, special character controls are increasing both the direct and indirect costs of housing,” he says.

Bishop says work is underway on addressing heritage and SCAs in the new Planning Act but expects councils to give greater consideration to the impact that character areas and heritage areas will have on private property rights.

Auckland Council expects a quarter of the city's character homes could lose their special heritage status.

Thompson says while people may not always be conscious of it, Auckland housing has been constantly evolving and undergoing change over the past 30 to 40 years. However, that change is often so gradual that it becomes the norm without comment.

For example, he says there was a time when a three-bedroom, single storey home of 112sq m surrounded by a garden was the ideal.

Over the years this transformed into a two-storey, open plan home with en-suite bathroom and seamless outdoor flow to large decks.

While apartment and town house living still has some way to go before being universally accepted, it is really Auckland catching up with what is the norm in many European and North American metropolitan areas, Thompson says.

“Ultimately, in terms of its impact on Auckland housing, the CRL will potentially turn out to be as big a game changer as the Harbour Bridge and the Southern, Northern and Western motorways proved to be in their time.

“As with the developments that occurred to the south, north and west of central Auckland, these new communities will create their own character.

“It will also help meet the housing needs of a growing number of people whose preference is for inner city living.”

The CRL, when fully operational, will be capable of moving more than 50,000 people an hour into, around and out of the central city.

Its implications for the city’s housing are as significant as its ability to improve public mobility.

What drives the adoption of game changers such as the motorways, the Harbour Bridge and the CRL is population growth, and while there are numerous anecdotal stories about the number of people “fleeing” Auckland for other centres – be it for cheaper housing or for a quieter way of life – the fact is Auckland is still set to hit a population of two million people within the next 10 years, Thompson says.

“That’s a population increase of some 300,000 on today’s number of residents. That’s greater than the number of people who live in Hamilton.”
It is investments in future infrastructure such as the CRL, and housing intensification such as the 15-storey special zones, that will ensure that as Auckland grows it retains its ability to offer its residents the best lifestyle possible.

Without such investment, Auckland would be under threat of losing the vitality that makes it the country’s leading metropolitan area.

Residential builders giving up

Whether there will be burgeoning residential construction when the CRL stations open is up in the air.

ANZ’s latest Business Outlook Survey says it appears beleaguered residential builders are giving up on a recovery any time soon, with a sharp drop in construction intentions.

The 'tanking' of residential construction activity expectations to the lowest level in a year is one of the noteworthy moves in the survey, Sharon Zollner, ANZ chief economist says.

Latest data from the Building Research Association of New Zealand showed that liquidations in the construction sector rose 37 percent in February year on year, accounting for 31 percent of all liquidations nationwide.

Latest figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) showed a similar trend.

The number of businesses with an MBIE construction code that had a liquidator appointed nearly doubled for the year ending 30 June 2023 compared to the previous year, climbing from 210 in 2022 to 416.

By the end of June 2025, 687 companies with an MBIE construction code had a liquidator appointed, marking a more than threefold increase in just three years.

ANZ’s survey shows business confidence lifted two points in July to a net 48% expecting better business conditions, while expected own activity was flat at net 41%.

Economy-wide, firms continue to experience soft demand: reported past activity (the best indicator of GDP in the survey) lifted four points but remains negative for construction, retail and manufacturing.

Construction and retail reported a significant renewed slump.