What are zones?
Under the Auckland Unitary Plan, zones manage how different areas are used, developed or protected.
All land in Auckland, including land in coastal marine areas, has a zone.
In general, the way that land is zoned reflects how it is used and what sort of activities happen there. Zoning can also identify how the way land is used is expected to change in the future.
There have been new housing provisions added to the Auckland Unitary Plan. See Plan Change 78 and our Unitary Plan Geomaps Viewer for more information.
Why we have zoning rules
Zoning rules require us to consider potential effects development or activity might have on:
- environment
- heritage
- culture
- conservation
- people.
For instance, in some zones you can do more intensive development than others.
What you can build and where
Each zone has rules specifying things like:
- what you can build
- how high you're allowed to build
- how you can use the land
- what sort of activities you can use buildings or land for (housing, business, offices, light or heavy industrial, etc).
The rules also cover things like how far apart houses have to be, how much outdoor space they need to have, and how many dwellings you can build on a site.
Check the zone for your property
To find out which zone your house is in, look up your address on the
Auckland Unitary Plan GeoMaps.
Single house zone
This information is for houses outside Auckland's urban areas.
Single house zone - Auckland Unitary Plan fact sheet (PDF 127 KB)
For more information, see Subdividing in a single house zone.
Low density residential zone
Low density residential zone - Auckland Unitary Plan fact sheet (PDF 228 KB)
This is a new zone that replaces the single house zone in the urban environment. See Plan Change 78: Intensification for more details and subdivision requirements for this zone.
Mixed housing suburban zone
Mixed housing suburban zone - Auckland Unitary Plan fact sheet (PDF 254 KB)
For more information, see Subdividing in a mixed housing suburban zone.
Mixed housing urban zone
Mixed housing urban zone - Auckland Unitary Plan fact sheet (PDF 254 KB)
For more information, see Subdividing in a mixed housing urban zone.
Terrace housing and apartment zone
Terrace housing and apartment zone - Auckland Unitary Plan fact sheet (PDF 268 KB)
For more information, see Subdividing in a terrace housing and apartment buildings zone.
Rural zone
View
Chapter H for Auckland Unitary Plan regulations for rural zones.
Mixed use, general use and business park zones
View
Chapter H for Auckland Unitary Plan regulations for mixed use, general use and business park zones.
Zone overlays and precincts
In a district plan or the Unitary Plan, there are zones for certain development activities. Examples are rural, commercial, or residential zones. There can also be overlays over these zones and precincts.
Overlays generally apply tighter controls over an area than the underlying zone does, although in some cases they can be more enabling. You can find overlays for your property on the
Auckland Unitary Plan GeoMaps.
For example, the demolition of a building in the single house zone is a
permitted activity; however, if the site is located within a special character overlay, the demolition of a building is a
restricted discretionary activity and therefore requires a resource consent. Granting of the resource consent would be considered against the assessment criteria of the overlay.
When you view your property on the
Auckland Unitary Plan GeoMaps you can look at the property zoning, and then select the layer you want to view from the list provided. All the different overlays will give you a better understanding of what might be allowed for your property.
Subdividing your property
For information, see Check if you can subdivide your property.
