Government and council impasse continues as 700 property owners wait
2025-10-29 · lightly-fucked
Auckland Council and Housing Minister Chris Bishop are at odds over who should fix the fallout from the withdrawal of Plan Change 78, which removed key housing density rules. The dispute has stalled hundreds of developments and exposed holes in how local and central government coordinate on planning law.
Welcome to Auckland’s latest housing drama, a production so magnificently fucked it should come with popcorn and a consent form. Around 700 property owners thought they had approval to build under Plan Change 78, until the council scrapped it like last season’s Love Island and sent them all letters basically saying, “Oops, your dreams are illegal now.” The Government insists the council already has the “tools” to fix it, which is bureaucrat-speak for “we lost the wrench months ago.”
Housing Minister Chris Bishop claims Auckland has everything it needs under the RMA. Auckland Council politely replies that it doesn’t, can’t, and won’t move until Wellington does the paperwork. Between them sits a pile of stalled housing projects, mortgage interest, and nervous developers wondering if they should’ve just built a Bunnings shed and called it a home.
Every email between the two sides reads like a passive-aggressive divorce mediation: “We still firmly believe a legislative fix is the best way to resolve this.” “I disagree with that characterisation.” Translation: “See you in court.”
It’s fucked, predictably fucked, and boringly fucked—the flavour of dysfunction that keeps Kiwis both underhoused and over-briefed. The council blames Parliament, Parliament blames the council, and the houses blame gravity for still not existing. In New Zealand, nothing ever truly unfucks; it just gets filed under “consultation ongoing.”
What’s fucked
It’s fucked because no one seems to know who’s meant to fix the hole they collectively dug. The council says the Government broke the rules; the Government says the council has tools to sort it; meanwhile, hundreds of property owners stare at empty sections and expired consents while the two sides draft strongly worded emails.
What might unfuck
It could be unfucked if someone—anyone—took responsibility and passed a short, boring piece of legislation to restore the affected consents. But since bureaucratic inertia is New Zealand’s national sport, it’ll probably remain politely, procedurally fucked until every developer has gone broke or retired.
Odds of unfucking
65%