Minimum sizes for apartments and balconies have been scrapped under Housing Minister Chris Bishop's zoning and land use reforms — but critics say "shoebox" apartments create "squalid" living conditions and "problems in society".
Councils will no longer be able to set minimum size requirements for floor areas and balconies under the changes. It will be up to developers instead.
Bishop said the current requirements "significantly increase" the cost of new apartments and limit supply of lower-cost apartments.
“Evidence from 2015 shows that in the Auckland market, balcony size requirements increased the costs of an apartment by $40,000 to $70,000 per unit.”
Apartment Specialists director Andrew Murray said he was "completely shocked" by the change.
"It's like we're going back in time."
In Auckland, a rise in so-called shoebox apartments led to the establishment of minimum size standards nearly 20 years ago.
"These small apartments, we know — and it's been proven — create problems in society," Murray said.
AUT construction professor John Tookey said the small apartments could generate some "absolutely squalid" living conditions.
"To have a complete 'remove the brakes' exercise, I'm not convinced is a sensible proposition."
He said, to be realistically confident to sell, people must be realistically confident to buy.
"If we go down this line, it does not mean we're going to get a massive upswell in total number of builds undertaken that are going to make a significant difference.
"What the commercial providers will do, is they will go wherever the maximum profit margin can be made."
However, Bishop said the move would increase housing supply.
"What we're doing is liberalising the rules so that people will build what the market demands. So if there's no demand for 20 square metre shoebox apartments, they won't be built. Simple as that."
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