Rotorua's affordable housing supply looks set to grow under new standards

Rotorua Professionals McDowell Real Estate principal and auctioneer Steve Lovegrove. Photo / Andrew Warner

Thousands of housing crisis-hit Rotorua residents locked out of the property market may see success as new residential standards enable more builds.

Last week it was announced Rotorua Lakes Council would join 12 other councils nationwide to join the Tier 1 major urban centres covered by the medium density residential standards.

Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods and Environment Minister David Parker announced the move after a request from Rotorua Lakes Council and its partners Te Arawa Lakes Trust and Te Tatau o Te Arawa.

Parker said the standards allowed up to three homes of up to three storeys to be built on most residential sites without resource consent.

Auckland based property developer Watchman Capital has been involved in various Rotorua projects and planned for more in the future.

Director Marcus Jacobson said he saw the news as a good thing, so long as there were "the right checks and balances".

"There is a need for more housing, and these standards work for more housing."

Mayor Steve Chadwick said Rotorua's Housing and Business Assessment confirmed there was a "severe" housing deficit in the district.

This was a shortage of 1890 homes in the short term, including unmet demand of 1500; 1400 in the medium term, including the unmet demand; and 3630 in the long term.

Waiariki MP and Te Paati Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the "overdue" news meant the district had fewer barriers in place for houses to be built to get whānau off the streets.

Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. Photo / George Novak

"Most importantly, we have to build communities not just homes. Engaging with iwi and ensuring we have appropriate social supports around them are just as important."

He said the announcement was good for Rotorua, where 40 per cent of residents were Māori.

Rotorua based Labour list MP Tāmati Coffey said both Labour and National saw the value of the changes as a fix to enable more housing, and worked proactively together on them.

"As one of the select committee members that helped usher this through, I was always aware of how desperately this would benefit the people of Rotorua in our need for better housing options."

Rotorua based Labour list MP Tāmati Coffey. Photo / George Novak

These changes will enable a mix of housing to be achieved and also allow for intergenerational living which the Māori community have called for, for very a long time, he said.

National Party Rotorua MP Todd McClay previously said if it meant more houses, it was a good thing, but said potentially impacted existing homeowners should have a say.

Rotorua Professionals McDowell Real Estate principal and auctioneer Steve Lovegrove said he was excited by the news.

He did not think "there are any losers in this situation", although understood some people would have fears if their historically low-density residential areas changed.

Lovegrove said medium-density was an opportunity.

"No one wants to see more land chewed up."

More building would provide more opportunities, which in turn meant there would be more affordable housing, he said.

"I believe there is a strong appetite for developers. We need more housing, there is a strong commercial opportunity in this."

Things would be able to happen faster, he said, and improve on the "critical" housing issue.

Classic Group director Peter Cooney said residents will need to expect more infill housing around them. The flip side was they could look at their section and think about how they can find more value in it.

He said, in theory, it should enable the development of more affordable housing.

"There will always be those who don't want development happening near them, however, I believe this group of people is shrinking."

Most people now know someone who is struggling to find a quality home to live in and recognise that we need to build our way out of the crisis, he said.

When it was announced, Rotorua councillor Tania Tapsell said housing intensification would unlock affordable options for people.

The move would remove costly barriers and the time it took to build, as well as streamline the consenting process.

"An overhaul of the old rules and processes was well overdue and this is a big step in the right direction for the future of our growing city.

"This is the boost of hope that the many people priced out of the housing market have been waiting for."

Rotorua Lakes Council district development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston said it was working on a Housing Plan Change which would incorporate the new standards but would also consider new heights and density rules for other parts of the district.

That Plan Change needed to be notified in August in line with the direction of the Government's National Policy Statement on Urban Development.

"Alongside that work, council is in the planning stages of a Future Development Strategy which takes a long-term view of how and where development happens in Rotorua, and what is needed to support that development such as infrastructure and community assets."

The standards will enable property owners in residential 1 and 2 zones to add further homes to their current sections.

"The changes will significantly improve the opportunity for infill housing and development across the city. This will provide more housing choices and more affordable housing options."

The change will not add cost to ratepayers, he said.

"The new standards will mean many housing developments will not require a resource consent. This will help to reduce the time it takes to get a home built and the cost of consenting."

Some of the new rules which implement the medium density residential standards will be in place from August, while others from late next year.