Opinion: A ‘no-zoned’ housing paradise

Opinion: A ‘no-zoned’ housing paradise

0 개 2,315 노영례

Tommy Honey, Dean of College at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design

29c9b33ac4d5a671b23f724d1eefcd4d_1459759240_8625.jpg
Older inner-city suburbs like Ponsonby are where you find residents who are most passionate about preserving their neigbourhoods, says Tommy Honry​ 

 

Could reducing regulations be one way to help solve Auckland's housing challenges?

Tommy Honey, the Dean of College at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, talks to OurAuckland about potential solutions to Auckland’s housing challenges.

 

The opinions expressed below are Mr Honey’s alone.  

What can we learn from the design of older inner-city Auckland suburbs like Ponsonby and Grey Lynn?

These suburbs, along with Aro Valley in Wellington, are where you find residents who are most passionate about preserving their neigbourhoods due to their historic importance.

But the way these suburbs were formed was largely decided by a builder or developer who decided what and how to build. Regulations didn’t exist and neither did input from architects or design experts.

 

A developer or builder built three homes in a row that looked the same, sold them, then built another three. So developers helped shape the city and the sort of housing that people love today.

Are you arguing for the removal of building regulations?

Not necessarily. But Auckland of the past was a no-zoned paradise. Property developers were looking to maximise their return and worked out that you could build a foot away from your neighbour – and that was the most cost-effective thing to do. In Sydney, there wasn’t even a gap between homes, and those houses are extremely desirable and valuable today. 

In Houston, Texas, they don’t have zoning at all. Well, sort of

But while Houston doesn’t have zoning laws, developers have a role in how the city looks through what they call deed restrictions

.

 

What we’re finding with the current situation in Auckland is that the people who set the regulations aren’t as innovative as developers. Developers know what people want from the marketing of homes.

 

What we’re seeing is that those who set restrictions are doing so through guessing what they think other people need.

What will the proposed Unitary Plan achieve?

The reason house prices are so high in Auckland is that land supply has been constrained by zoning regulations. The Unitary Plan has the goal of trying to open up zoning, so there’s adequate land supply for housing. It’ll mean, for example, if you’ve got a section of 600 square metres, you can build two homes on it instead of one.

How did we get to a place where the average house price is nine or 10 times an average annual income?

If you go back before the Super City, we had seven different cities within Auckland, each of which had their own separate set of rules for house building. Not one had a region-wide responsibility for planning for population growth.

So the planner in Manukau had no remit to look at likely population growth in the North Shore and what kind of housing might be needed to accommodate that growth. They couldn’t have influenced that even if they’d wanted to. 

But now we have everyone sitting under the same roof, the planners, infrastructure, transport planners and that is what we need to get it right.

So the Unitary Plan is simply a means to set consistent regulations across the region.

Are residents right to be fearful of change? Will greater densities lead to the reduction of property prices for those about to enter their retirement, for example?

What people don’t understand is that the Unitary Plan will take a few years to flow through, once it’s complete. Their neighbourhoods won’t change overnight; they probably won’t change for generations.

People fear that once the Unitary Plan is released, the next day the bulldozers will roll into Remuera, and that’s just not going to happen.

Another point that people don’t understand is that development will make some types of housing rarer and unique, for example a big single house on a section. Their scarcity will ensure that they remain more valuable over time.

They go up in value, not just monetarily, and so preservation is enabled by the development that happens elsewhere. And we’re only talking two or three-storey developments. Talk of anything more extreme is simply scaremongering.

Tommy Honey is a director, designer, educational manager, and architect. He is Dean of College at Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design and the resident urbanist on Radio New Zealand’s Nine-to-Noon programme.

출처 : Auckland Council News​ 

Report shows challenging future for children …

댓글 0 | 조회 155 | 9시간전
The future of childhood h… 더보기

Farmers Santa Parade, supported by the city c…

댓글 0 | 조회 310 | 11시간전
Two symbolic characters a… 더보기

Investors on the rebound and first home buyer…

댓글 0 | 조회 513 | 2일전
New Zealand's property ma… 더보기

NZ Compare Awards 2024 Finalists Announced

댓글 0 | 조회 261 | 2일전
The NZ Compare Awards 202… 더보기

More property sellers face losses amidst weak…

댓글 0 | 조회 754 | 9일전
By Kelvin Davidson, CoreL… 더보기

99,000 children in persistent poverty

댓글 0 | 조회 519 | 2024.11.12
98,900 children in Aotear… 더보기

First Home Buyers capitalise on soft market

댓글 0 | 조회 555 | 2024.11.07
First home buyers (FHBs) … 더보기

Slowing rate of decline signals potential val…

댓글 0 | 조회 598 | 2024.11.01
Property values in New Ze… 더보기

Investors take a fresh look at the NZ propert…

댓글 0 | 조회 677 | 2024.10.24
Mortgaged multiple proper… 더보기

NZ construction costs show minor uptick amids…

댓글 0 | 조회 471 | 2024.10.16
Tax changes, high levels … 더보기

OCR down again as mortgage rates set to keep …

댓글 0 | 조회 776 | 2024.10.09
Commentary from Kelvin Da… 더보기

Spring marks subtle shift in market condition…

댓글 0 | 조회 270 | 2024.10.08
Spring has sprung, but gr… 더보기

Rate cuts haven't pumped up house prices yet

댓글 0 | 조회 411 | 2024.10.03
CoreLogic's hedonic Home … 더보기

Minister of Health announcement on Fetal Alco…

댓글 0 | 조회 534 | 2024.09.26
The Minister of Health Ho… 더보기

Where are Aotearoa NZ's $1 million+ housing m…

댓글 0 | 조회 696 | 2024.09.25
By Nick Goodall, CoreLogi… 더보기

5 of the best ways to enjoy spring in Aucklan…

댓글 0 | 조회 380 | 2024.09.24
Tāmaki Makaurau is one of… 더보기

Property sales slowly rising heading into spr…

댓글 0 | 조회 447 | 2024.09.19
With the spring selling s… 더보기

Local alcohol policy: Freeze on new liquor st…

댓글 0 | 조회 296 | 2024.09.16
From today (Monday 16 Sep… 더보기

Property sector: New Zealand's economic power…

댓글 0 | 조회 418 | 2024.09.12
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND -… 더보기

Housing market still flat despite interest ra…

댓글 0 | 조회 342 | 2024.09.10
House prices do not yet r… 더보기

Lower interest rates may take time to ripple …

댓글 0 | 조회 567 | 2024.09.05
CoreLogic's Home Value In… 더보기

Low deposit mortgages help fuel first home bu…

댓글 0 | 조회 1,229 | 2024.08.22
First home buyers (FHBs) … 더보기

Affordability challenges persist despite soft…

댓글 0 | 조회 356 | 2024.08.14
By Kelvin Davidson, CoreL… 더보기

Frigid housing market's winter blues continue…

댓글 0 | 조회 389 | 2024.08.13
Residential property valu… 더보기

Resale profits decline as buyer bargaining po…

댓글 0 | 조회 284 | 2024.08.08
By Kelvin Davidson, CoreL… 더보기