Zoning Reform and State-Developed Housing in Auckland

Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy

No 19, Working Papers from University of Auckland, Economic Policy Center (EPC)

Abstract: Zoning reform is often characterized as a market-enabling response to housing shortages and unaffordable housing. Regrettably this framing belies the potential for zoning reform to encourage state-developed housing, as upzoning enables both private and government developers to produce more housing with less land. A recent zoning reform in Auckland exemplifies this point. The proportion of housing starts issued to government-controlled institutions has increased from 3.1% over the ten years prior to the reform, to 9.9% over the six years after. Proportions this high were last seen in New Zealand prior to the 1980s neoliberal reforms that substantially reduced state intervention in the economy. A synthetic control for Auckland indicates that the reform generated a near threefold increase in state-built dwellings. These findings suggest that zoning reform can enable both the market and the state to construct more housing.

Keywords: Upzoning; Land Use Regulations; Redevelopment; State-Developed Housing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R14 R31 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-02
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https://www.auckland.ac.nz/assets/business/our-res ... sing-in-auckland.pdf

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Journal Article: Zoning reform and state-developed housing in Auckland (2025)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cyc:wpaper:019

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