Shore wants to ban tiny apartments

The North Shore council says Auckland City-style apartments are too small for Shore suburban centres. Photo / Herald on Sunday

First-home owners will pay $100,000 extra for a one-bedroom apartment if a North Shore City Council move to raise minimum floor size gains traction.

Last week, the council's strategy and finance committee voted in a split decision for bigger apartments in the Shore's suburbs, outside the centres of Takapuna and Albany. Studios were removed from the proposed apartment mix of one-bedroom (45sq m floor area), two-bedroom (70sq m) and three-bedroom 90sq m.

Leading the move, committee chairman Grant Gillon said the only reason some people lived in small apartments was that they could not afford a larger home. "Many can turn into rat traps, which we have seen happen overseas. Then our community faces a range of social problems."

He said Auckland City-style apartment sizes were too small for people living in Shore suburban centres such as Highbury and Devonport.

However, councillor Kevin Schwass opposed pushing sizes higher than council planning staff recommended. He favoured the staff recommendation of a one-bedroom size of 40sq m (46sq m with balcony) and 55sq m for a two-bedroom unit.

It was consistent with Auckland City's response to community concerns.

"It's the result of extensive research and total community engagement by 70 people who have turned up to workshops on [Takapuna's] Anzac St West's future. Not everyone can afford a three-bedroom house on a section, and when looking at Takapuna and Highbury you have to accommodate a different type of person."

The suggested size is likely to need the approval of the new Auckland Council. Senior planner Simon O'Connor said the Shore's District Plan discouraged developments with studio or one-bedroom types.

Smaller units were often associated with poorer-quality buildings but design standards had improved.

The issue was getting the right balance between providing more generously sized units against more compact and affordable living that still had a high standard of residential amenity.

"Apartment living in North Shore is unlikely to be cheap with one-bedroom apartments likely to start at around $300,000, but they offer a realistic alternative ... to travel distances and lack of centre conveniences."

Property Council urban design panel member John Abel-Pattinson said apartment building costs were about $7000 a sq m. "If the council raises the floor area it will add $100,000 for a one-bedroom and $150,000 for a two-bedroom. If prices become out of line or unaffordable, people are not going to buy them and because developers have to presell them, they probably won't get built."

As development director of Greenstone Group, he knew apartment buyers cared more about the urban design qualities of the apartment than its physical size.

"A poorly designed 90sq m [unit] can be no better than a 50sq m one, which will be cheaper.

"Good design is the solution, not arbitrarily setting a size."