The Minister for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, has recently approved Christchurch City Council’s request to withdraw the remaining parts of Plan Change 14 relating to the national Medium-Density Residential Standards (MDRS).
Originally, MDRS would have applied across all urban residential areas in Christchurch. However, the RMA’s opt-out pathway allowed the Council to step back, provided it could demonstrate long-term housing capacity.
Christchurch has now confirmed it meets its Housing Growth Target, proving it can support 30 years of feasible housing supply with a 20% contingency. In total, the city needed to show that 65,600 commercially viable homes could be enabled.
So, what does this mean for urban form?
Instead of blanket MDRS across every suburb, Christchurch will continue to focus medium and high-density growth in already identified intensification areas:
The Christchurch City Council believes that approach balances housing supply with quality urban design, ensuring growth happens where infrastructure and amenities can support it.
At Davis Ogilvie, we help clients navigate these changes. Whether you’re planning a development, assessing property potential, or looking for engineering and planning expertise.
Talk to our team about how these updates impact your plans.
