Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Resource Management Act 1991

Standards, policy statements, and plans - Local authority policy statements and plans - Intensification requirements in residential zones

77G: Duty of specified territorial authorities to incorporate MDRS and give effect to policy 3 or 5 in residential zones

You could also call this:

“Big cities must change their rules to allow more homes to be built in neighbourhoods.”

You need to make sure that every important residential area in your town or city includes the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS). These are rules about how many houses can be built in an area.

If you’re in charge of planning for a city, you also need to follow either policy 3 or policy 5. These policies are about making sure there are enough houses for people to live in.

When you’re changing your city’s plan to include these new rules, you have to use a special process called an Intensification Planning Instrument (IPI) and the Intensification Streamlined Planning Process (ISPP).

You can create new residential areas or change existing ones to fit these rules.

You must include certain goals and plans in your city’s plan. These are listed in clause 6 of Schedule 3A. You can also add extra goals and plans if you need to.

In some cases, you might be allowed to make it harder to build houses than the MDRS or policy 3 suggest. But you can only do this if section 77I says it’s okay.

If your city already has rules that allow as many or more houses to be built than the MDRS, you don’t need to change those rules.

You have to include the MDRS in your city’s plan, even if it doesn’t match what your region’s policy statement says.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS633608.

Topics:
Housing and property > Land use
Environment and resources > Town planning
Government and voting > Local councils
Previous

77F: Interpretation, or

“This section explains important words and ideas used in the law about planning cities and towns.”

Next

77H: Requirements in Schedule 3A may be modified to enable greater development, or

“Councils can change the rules to allow more housing to be built than what the law says.”

Part 5 Standards, policy statements, and plans
Local authority policy statements and plans: Intensification requirements in residential zones

77GDuty of specified territorial authorities to incorporate MDRS and give effect to policy 3 or 5 in residential zones

  1. Every relevant residential zone of a specified territorial authority must have the MDRS incorporated into that zone.

  2. Every residential zone in an urban environment of a specified territorial authority must give effect to policy 3 or policy 5, as the case requires, in that zone.

  3. When changing its district plan for the first time to incorporate the MDRS and to give effect to policy 3 or policy 5, as the case requires, and to meet its obligations in section 80F, a specified territorial authority must use an IPI and the ISPP.

  4. In carrying out its functions under this section, a specified territorial authority may create new residential zones or amend existing residential zones.

  5. A specified territorial authority—

  6. must include the objectives and policies set out in clause 6 of Schedule 3A:
    1. may include objectives and policies in addition to those set out in clause 6 of Schedule 3A, to—
      1. provide for matters of discretion to support the MDRS; and
        1. link to the incorporated density standards to reflect how the territorial authority has chosen to modify the MDRS in accordance with section 77H.

        2. A specified territorial authority may make the requirements set out in Schedule 3A or policy 3 less enabling of development than provided for in that schedule or by policy 3, if authorised to do so under section 77I.

        3. To avoid doubt, existing provisions in a district plan that allow the same or a greater level of development than the MDRS do not need to be amended or removed from the district plan.

        4. The requirement in subsection (1) to incorporate the MDRS into a relevant residential zone applies irrespective of any inconsistent objective or policy in a regional policy statement.

        Notes
        • Section 77G: inserted, on , by section 9 of the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 59).