
The housing rules are changing.
Plan Change 33 Closing Statement
We have prepared the closing statement responding to the matters raised during the course of the substantive hearing. The Independent Hearing Panel will now consider all of the submissions and evidence received and provide recommendations to Council. A recommendation is expected by the end of April 2024.
All documents relating to the opening strategic hearing and the substantive hearing are available in the key documents section.
Key documents section
The Government is making some changes to housing rules that will change what you can do on your property. Your neighbourhood may change too, over time. In a nutshell, people will be able to build more on their residential sections without needing sign-off from council, or approval from neighbours.
Like all major cities, we’re in the thick of a housing crisis. We’re short of homes, and there’s little choice in the type and size of dwellings we can live in. To help address these issues, Tauranga needs to grow up as well as out, and we’ve been given strict direction from the Government to enable this.
Through the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021, we’ve been instructed to amend the rules in our city plan so that we:
- insert a set of Medium Density Residential Standards into our relevant residential zones
- allow people to build up to three dwellings of up to three storeys on most sections in residential zones, without needing to obtain a resource consent
- enable higher density housing with more building height within and around the city centre, and other identified commercial centres across the city and close to public transport.
This means it will be easier for homeowners looking to build or expand, and that people will have access to more types of houses. It also means there will be more multi-storey buildings popping up around our neighbourhoods and city, over time – which will gradually change where and how we live.
Factsheet – Enabling Housing Supply (2.7mb pdf)
What are the proposed changes?