Shelter UrbPlan 713
2024
Assignment 1.
This assignment is worth 50% of the marks for this course
Hand in by 12:00 noon on the 18th April 2024
This assignment consists of a Report (made up of 4 sections) outlining the current circumstances and the effects of New Zealand's housing policy, urban planning and market processes on a particular client in Auckland and the likely impacts of public policies, programmes, plans and market processes on a suburb in Auckland. You will select a client from the list below.
The Report:
Section 1 Introduction: Describe the current economic and, if appropriate, social and cultural circumstances of your client, and your client’s current housing situation.
Notes:
It is up to you to "build up a picture" of your client, eg by making reasonable assumptions about their personal or business circumstances, or assuming your client exhibits average characteristics etc. Support these assumptions and ‘averages’ with references. Max 700 words (15%)
Section 2. Either identify ONE significant Government housing policy that has impacted on your client’s current housing circumstances - including the quality, location, cost and tenure of housing - and explain the nature and extent of that impact, including appropriateness of the policy for your client. Or identify ONE significant Auckland Council’s (or legacy council’s) policy or plan that has impacted on your client’s current housing circumstances – including the quality, location, cost and tenure of housing – and explain the nature and extent of that impact, including appropriateness of the policy or plan for your client.
Notes:
1. A policy or plan can be a positive act – such as providing a subsidy, investing in a build
programme, up-zoning for increased density, enabling residential development, supporting a housing needs-based initiative etc, or a negative act – such as constraining public investment in social housing, reducing eligibility criteria, restricting finance availability, controlling residential density, ignoring housing need etc.
2. Under housing ‘quality’ think about construction, typology, design, level of repair, energy efficiency, as relevant for your client.
Max 1,000 words (25%)
Section 3 Briefly (bullet point) describe a number (3 or 4) of possible options available to your client over the next 5 years? Select the most favourable course of action that you would recommend to your client. Justify your selection, by comparing and contrasting the various options. Max 750 words (20%)
Section 4 Either Option 1: Consider the Housing Programme being implemented by Kāinga Ora. This could include Kāinga Ora’s large scale re-developments. Or the combination of several small to medium-scale developments:
https://kaingaora.govt.nz/developments-and-programmes/
Or Option 2: Consider the Auckland Unitary Plan, the NPS-UD (The National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 approved by the Governor-General under section 52(2) of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), and the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill (which came into force in Auckland in August 2022), which introduced intensification requirements in residential zones (Medium Density Residential Standards - MDRS).
For either of these two Options (but not both) select a suburb. For your chosen suburb:
1.) What will the suburb be like in 5 - 10 years? To answer this part, you need to consider both: what are the likely impacts of either the Kāinga Ora programme or the AUP and the new legislation on your chosen suburb and why you think this (explain your reasoning) ?
Consider:
• changes to housing design, housing typologies and housing quality in the suburb,
• changes in tenure,
• changes in property prices
• changes to rent levels
• changes in investment in dwelling maintenance
• changes in socio-economic and demographic characteristics of households living in the suburb
• the potential for gentrification
• the potential for polarization / residualisation
• the potential for displacement of lower-income families
• changes in land-use mix
• changes to transport costs and/or travel to / from the suburb
2.) In 5+ years, will this suburb provide appropriate housing for your client’s situation – either personal or business? If Yes, provide a brief explanation. If No, outline why not.
Max 1,200 words (35%) Bibliography (5%)
Notes:
1. If your chosen client needs more affordable housing you must NOT assume that your client has won Lotto, has received an unexpected legacy in a wealthy relative’s will or has extremely generous and wealthy parents.
2. Maximum words? – these are indicators. You will not be penalised if you write a small amount more. But, this is not an assignment about producing quantities of words / pages. It is more important that you read each Section carefully and attempt to address all of the parts. Concise clear writing is required, not long, convoluted sentences. Use bullet points to summarise key points. Use , tables, graphs, maps and other material to illustrate your work.
List of Clients: Choose one of the following as your client for the assignment:
1. Pacific Island extended family, in overcrowded living conditions, seeking stability and wanting to retain community networks, currently living in rental accommodation in the private sector.
2. Community Housing Provider, already active in Auckland, wanting to increase their involvement in providing good quality housing to meet the requirements of their target families.
3. Two adults and 4 school-age children, purchasing a lower-cost house (with a mortgage that already consumes a large part of the family’s income) anticipating being unable to meet payments when refixing the mortgage.
4. Investor, currently owns 6 apartments in Auckland’s CBD, considering whether to off-load all of the apartments or diversify portfolio to include a wider range of properties.
5. Pensioner, living alone, owning own home, with high housing utility (electricity, gas, water) costs, rates payments and maintenance costs etc which are greater than their income.
6. Elderly (68 years) Māori pensioner, with mokopuna, renting (from the private sector) a one- bedroom dwelling in a gentrifying suburb, concerned about rising rent levels.
7. Developer, with experience in delivering stand-alone 3-4 bedroom houses, considering pros and cons of medium – high density development.
8. Solo mum with 3 children, recently divorced with some capital from the sale of the family home. Currently renting. Wanting to stay in the same suburb for stability for the children.
9. Older couple purchasing, with a mortgage, a terrace housing in a complex that is a leaky building, with limited funds for extensive repairs.
10. Young homeless person, currently couch-surfing with friends, needs a stable and safe place to live, to finish high school and to obtain paid work.
11. Female victim of domestic abuse, unwilling to move out of current dwelling without her children and worried about retaliation from her partner. Rental contract is in her name.
12. Lower-income household struggling to make mortgage payments each month, living in a cold, damp house that is adversely impacting on the health of one or more family member - facing extremely high power bills each winter.
13. Single young professional woman working in the public sector (eg teacher, social worker, nurse, policy analyst etc) who graduated in 2020 (and has contributed to Kiwisaver since 2016) has been renting a studio apartment in central Auckland. She wants to buy her own place. She is unable to drive a car.
14. Single man (mid-30s) with a physical disability, currently renting in the private sector, seeking security and an appropriately designed / modified low maintenance dwelling, where he can lead an independent life
15. Lower-income family purchasing a dwelling close to family, church and schools, in an area that was significantly impacted by recent flooding and cyclone events. Has no contents insurance.
16. Single woman, 60 years, in employment, currently purchasing a dwelling as part of a shared equity scheme offered by a Community Housing Provider. Concerned about location, quality and design of dwelling as she gets older.