— Guide · Plan Change 120

PC120's Second Submission Round: What Auckland Buyers and Owners Should Know

A second submission period open to everyone is coming. The housing numbers are changing, but the natural hazard rules are already live — and the council has signalled it intends to keep them.

When Auckland Council notified Plan Change 120 in November 2025, the first submission period closed on 19 December 2025 with more than 10,000 submissions. Many people assumed that was the main chance to have a say. It was not. A second submission period is coming, open to everyone, and the rules behind PC120 have shifted since the first round.

If you are buying or you already own in Auckland, there is one message worth holding onto through all of this. The housing numbers are being reworked, but the natural hazard rules are already live, and the council has signalled it intends to keep them. Here is what that means, in plain language.

§ 1.0A second chance to have your say

Normally, once a plan change closes for submissions, the only step left for the public is a round of further submissions, where existing submitters support or oppose what others have said. For PC120, central government has directed that this statutory further submission step will not apply at all. In its place, the council will publicly notify PC120 a second time, with a submission period open to everyone, which it expects to be around August 2026.

That matters for two reasons. First, you can make a submission even if you did not submit the first time. Second, if you did submit in December 2025, that submission remains valid, so you do not need to repeat yourself unless your position has changed.

The first round of submissions is now on the public record. The Summary of Decisions Requested became available for viewing on 14 May 2026, so you can see what others have asked the council to change before the second period opens.

§ 2.0What changed since the first submission round

The main driver is housing capacity, not hazards. PC120 was originally required to provide for roughly 2 million homes, matching the plan it replaced. Central government legislation that took effect in April 2026 lowered that minimum to approximately 1.4 million homes. This is a theoretical capacity number, representing how many homes could be built if every site was developed to its maximum, rather than a target for actual construction.

Because of that change, the council may amend parts of PC120. It is exploring options in June 2026, and its Policy, Planning and Development Committee will decide in July 2026 whether to propose amendments. If amendments are proposed, they would go through the same second submission period, which is part of why that period is open to everyone.

§ 3.0Why the hazard rules are a separate question

This is the part that matters most if you are about to transact. It is easy to read headlines about reduced housing capacity or a plan under review and assume the hazard picture is softening. It is not the same thing.

The natural hazard provisions in the rewritten Chapter E36 took legal effect on 3 November 2025 under section 86B of the Resource Management Act. Any resource consent lodged in Auckland today is already assessed against them. That has not changed and is not part of the housing capacity debate.

When the council set out the principles to guide any PC120 amendments, one of those principles was to retain the current downzoning for natural hazards. In plain terms, even as the housing numbers are reworked, the council has signalled it intends to keep the stronger hazard controls in place. So a lower capacity number does not mean the rules in flood, coastal, or land instability areas are easing.

For a buyer, the practical takeaway is that the hazard rules affecting what you can build on a given site are live now and are unlikely to loosen, regardless of how the housing debate lands.

§ 4.0What to do, whether you are buying or already own

If you are buying

The hazard rules apply now, so the submission timetable does not change what you need to check before you commit.

If you already own

The second submission period is your opening to engage with how PC120 maps and zones your property, even if you did not submit the first time.

§ 5.0The bottom line

A second submission period open to everyone is unusual, and it is worth using if PC120 affects your property. But for anyone buying or selling right now, the headline is simpler. The hazard rules are already in force, and the council has signalled it intends to keep them even as the housing numbers change.

Check the hazard profile before you commit. The cost of checking is a tiny fraction of what you are about to spend.