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More character houses could be protected from the wrecker's ball under a proposal being floated by Auckland City Mayor John Banks.
Mr Banks writes that the council could extend the list of character homes under demolition controls in suburbs such as Remuera, Epsom, Parnell, Herne Bay, Mt Albert, St Heliers and Kohimarama.
The proposed backdown follows mounting criticism by heritage groups and residents at council plans to lift demolition controls on 4128 of the 8112 houses in the Residential 2 zone.
The Historic Places Trust has also added its voice, saying the character of Auckland's older suburbs is at risk.
The trust's northern regional manager, Sherry Reynolds, said the criteria used to lift demolition controls were so "flimsy" that whole streets of character homes had disappeared.
Mr Banks, who stopped a secret deal approved by Citizens & Ratepayers councillors in March to allow the possible demolition of all 8112 houses in Residential 2, has proposed a compromise.
It involves extending the listing of character homes with demolition controls, while making it easier for the owners of protected properties to gain resource consent for demolition.
The council has lifted demolition controls on half of the houses in the Residential 2 zone with a view to settling a legal row with three Remuera lawyers, Derek Nolan, Brian Latimour and Tim Burcher.
The lawyers oppose rules introduced under former Mayor Dick Hubbard in 2005 that require people to obtain resource consent before removing or demolishing pre-1940 homes. They have lodged an appeal in the Environment Court.
Mr Banks was against seeing historic homes demolished, but said commonsense must prevail to come up with a set of rules that could not be open to further legal challenge.
"The Environment Court expects us to arrive at something fair and workable that protects the character of Auckland and recognises the rights of individual property owners," he said.
Sherry Reynolds said the 2005 rules were a "no surprises" approach to changes.
"As it stands now, the new criteria would mean that demolition could happen without any warning.
"It's absolutely vital that the council doesn't water this plan change down and give away a potentially useful mechanism that would help keep the character of Auckland's older suburbs intact," she said.
Parnell Heritage spokeswoman Kate Tolmie-Bowden was wary of any compromises, saying the new rules should be extended to other suburbs in the city. Several heritage groups had legal advice stating the rules would stand up in court, she said.
The rules, she said, were similar to those that applied in Devonport.
"If it can work in Devonport, why can't it work here?"
Mrs Tolmie-Bowden agreed that the criteria and consent process needed to be reviewed and improved.
