Planning barriers for prefabricated housing

We were delighted to have an article in the latest BUILD magazine regarding our planning barriers for prefabricated housing research. In the article we explore whether planning barriers hinder the uptake of complete prefabricated housing across New Zealand.

Funded by the Building Research Levy, we reviewed the district plans of 25 high and medium-growth urban areas to understand if planning barriers for prefabricated housing existed and if so, what they were. Our four key findings included that:

  • In most cases, complete prefabricated housing is treated the same as non-prefabricated housing in district plans.

  • In some cases, complete prefabricated housing attracts greater resource consent requirements than non-prefabricated housing.

  • Greater consistency across the country regarding resource consent requirements for complete prefabricated housing is achievable.

  • Communication between the building sector and councils is essential to resolve inconsistencies in how complete prefabricated housing is treated in the planning system.

This project is a great example of how targeted research can explore specific issues in-depth to inform district plan policy responses and resource consent operational procedures.

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Toni Kennerley