Research suggests that, outside of the Auckland central area, there is a significant under-supply of units and apartments. Photo / Doug Sherring
Research suggests that, outside of the Auckland central area, there is a significant under-supply of units and apartments. Photo / Doug Sherring
Squeeze put on Auckland housing options in landmark study.
Auckland needs to squeeze in and up and move to having more suburban units and apartments to meet buyers' growing financial constraints and limitations.
That is the conclusion of a new report, The Housing We'd Choose, A Study of Housing Preferences, Choices and Trade-Offs, out today from Auckland Council's researchand evaluation unit based on two online surveys of 750 and 1400 households.
"The key finding is that [while] the majority of households will still prefer stand-alone detached housing, it appears that this demand is more than satisfied by the existing stock of housing," the 51-page report said.
"The gap exists in terms of a shortfall in the numbers of attached dwellings and apartments. Our research suggests that, outside of the Auckland central area, there is a significant under-supply of units and apartments, while the supply of apartments in the Auckland central area exceeds demand."
The research, by Market Economics and Research First, asked people to rate housing options against 58 different features and those were in turn grouped into five categories: the local environment, convenience and access, proximity to facilities, the property and the dwelling itself.
"The study differs from previous research into housing preferences in Auckland as households were asked to select a preferred option within their own current financial constraints and from a range of housing options not currently available in some areas," the council said.
But Hugh Pavletich, the Christchurch-based co-author of the annual Demographia housing affordability survey, said the council was "misleading" Aucklanders with the studies because it could not offer what people really wanted - land for a stand-alone house - therefore its questions were disingenuous.
"New Zealanders, including Aucklanders, of course, generally desire a detached house with a plot of land," Mr Pavletich said.
He said only 0.7 per cent of New Zealand was urbanised and Auckland was surrounded by plentiful land which the council had ring-fenced with its rural-urban boundary so housing could be built there.
Residents in Browns Bay, Northcote and Milford have already fought high-rise developments and are among those concerned about proposed apartment heights.
But Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse, who lives in a 1957 ex-state house on a large site on Te Atatu Peninsula, said Auckland needed to cater for rapidly changing demographics.
"We've only got one apartment block," she said of her area, noting how the ageing population sought to downsize but remain in the same area they had lived for years.
Prime Minister John Key told Aucklanders this year to get used to apartments: "You can try and dampen the demand side but it's a slower lever than you might think ... We must build it faster, and we must build it cheaper."
But property expert Olly Newland doubts Aucklanders really desire apartments: "Everybody dreams about having a house on a quarter-acre. That's the psyche and that's why people are moving from Auckland to Hamilton and Tauranga, because this is deeply ingrained in the soul."
"Apartment living is not something Kiwis are used to. But overseas and in Shanghai, it's just the norm to live in apartments and having a house there is regarded as being a zillionaire."
Financial constraints would push Aucklanders towards more intensive housing, Mr Newland said, and he backed intensification and the City Rail Link for maximising the use of council-owned infrastructure such as sewage pipes, stormwater and roads and saving on expanding those services.
Emilia Mazza, with her kitten Riely, is happy living close to the city. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Freelance writer Emilia Mazza and her cat Riely live in a flat in the lower level of an old Ponsonby villa. She loves the garden and the location, which she says gives her the best of both worlds.
"I'm not a huge fan of the suburbs but I appreciate why people live there.
"I don't particularly like suburban living, so at this point I pay the market rent for living near the inner city and those advantages are that I'm close to work so my transport costs are minimised and I can walk if I want to, which I enjoy, plus there's lots of activity around Ponsonby, which suits me," Ms Mazza said.
Hearing about the new study released by Auckland Council today, Ms Mazza was surprised about the call for widespread intense apartment and townhouse development throughout the suburbs. It is not a concept she is drawn to.
"I like being around a busier part of the city and I'm not that interested in the idea of owning a home, so the flat that I have really suits me."
Comment: Blame the incompetent council
Hugh Pavletich
If Auckland was a normal housing market, like most in North America, house prices would be at or below $300,000 for those on $100,000-a-year household incomes.
Thanks to the incompetent Auckland Council, an Auckland family with a household income of $100,000 is forced to pay $820,000 for a house.
The council is forcing them to pay an extra $520,000 for the house and this new study calling for more apartments in the suburbs is no solution to the crisis.
That money for an Auckland house must come from a grossly excessive mortgage, crippling the city's residents for the remainder of their working life.
Add the interest over the life of this inflated mortgage and this $100,000-a-year household is forced to pay over $1 million in excessive mortgage costs, and all because the Auckland Council is incompetent.
The council is being deliberately misleading because it has lost control of its costs and has lost the capacity to meet its infrastructure responsibilities to its community
Land supply, infrastructure financing and processing for new housing are issues councils must tackle - and no council more than Auckland needs to deal with this.
• Hugh Pavletich is co-author of the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey.
Comment: People need to have choices
Ree Anderson
The new study shows that how Aucklanders house themselves now is likely to change in future.
The research is the latest confirmation that Auckland needs more townhouses, terraced housing and apartments to allow for people being able to choose the best place to live to meet their needs.
The study shows people are willing to live in types of housing other than detached dwellings - particularly if they can choose locations they might prefer or other benefits they value.
This is not a study on housing affordability but about trade-offs and choices people make taking account of income and other financial constraints, such as mortgage lending practices.
In terms of 58 attributes included in the study, a safe neighbourhood was very important but so was being near family and friends, access to public transport and proximity to the main income earner's employment.
In the seven months to April this year, apartments and town houses accounted for 37 per cent of the new dwellings consented. This shows that the market is starting to respond to Aucklanders' different needs.
• Ree Anderson is director of Auckland Council's Housing Project Office.
