Shoebox apartment slips through planning loophole

The buyers are forbidden to cook in the tiny dwelling.

The minimum size of inner city apartments could fall under Auckland Council's proposed Unitary Plan.

The former Auckland City Council introduced minimum apartment size rules in 2007 following a proliferation of cheaply built shoebox housing in the central city - effectively banning anything less than 35sq m in size.

The minimum size rules are now 35sqm for studio apartments, 45sqm for one-bedroom, 70sqm for two-bedroom and 90sqm for three-plus bedrooms.

But under the proposed Unitary Plan the limits would fall to 30sqm for inner city studio dwellings and 40sqm for one-plus bedrooms.

Council acting manager projects practice and resolutions Julie Bevan said the Mount St apartments were consented in 1995 as a mix of student accommodation and serviced apartments.

Under current planning rules, there were no specific unit size requirements for non-permanent accommodation, which included student accommodation, she said.

Bevan's comments follow the sale of a pint-size 9sqm one-bedroom central Auckland abode for $104,000.

The vendor for the 9sqm Mount St unit is listed on QV records as Talib Al-bayati.

The listing ad says: "This owner's simply cashing out of their NZ assets & going overseas."

Apartment Specialists director Andrew Murray despite its miniature dimensions, the dwelling was officially recognised as an apartment.

"It's got its own individual title, it's in a body corporate so it's covered by the Unit Titles Act. You can go and live there, you don't have to be a student."

His company had sold three or four identical Mount St units in the last 12 months.