Affordable housing through inclusionary zoning – case of Auckland

Abstract

The main aim of this thesis is to critically evaluate Auckland Council’s approach in revoking the provisions of inclusionary zoning from the Auckland Unitary Plan that sought to secure affordable housing. Auckland’s major housing affordability problem has received a lot of attention at the national, regional and local level. Review of international literature suggests that there are various mechanisms to secure affordable housing using planning principles. One of these mechanisms is inclusionary zoning, which requires land developers to dedicate a certain percentage of the total number of dwellings in a development for affordable units. This mechanism can be implemented by land developers constructing the units and imposing a retention mechanism or by transferring the units or land to a community housing provider. This thesis examines the provisions of inclusionary zoning that were part of the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan from three dimensions; legislative, economic and socio-cultural. In order to combat the problem of affordable housing, the New Zealand government introduced legislation specifically to address this matter but this either was repealed or had short timeframes to undertake developments under the legislation. This research uncovered that inclusionary zoning is not new to New Zealand. Queenstown Lakes District Council has implemented it in the past but could not withstand the political challenges. Primary data was collected through interviews with four key stakeholders who play an active part in the provision of affordable housing either by administering it or delivering it on ground. The critical evaluation and analysis of the primary and secondary data revealed that the provisions of inclusionary zoning in the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan have worked to secure affordable housing, to a certain extent. But there are many opportunities, as recommended in this thesis, to increase the supply of affordable housing units through inclusionary zoning within the current legislation. One of the research findings was that while implementing inclusionary zoning in brownfield areas was more complex than that of greenfield areas, it did not prove to be economically unviable. This research also concluded that inclusionary zoning is an effective tool to encourage socially integrated developments which was well addressed in the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.