Auckland has to re-evaluate its current style of new housing, or else it would need an extra 20,000ha to accommodate new houses in the next three decades, reports said

In a New Zealand Herald reported, Martin Udale, ex-chief executive of McConnell Property, was commissioned by Auckland's Regional Strategy Council for an independent review of a report on the controversial plan to ring-fence 75 per cent of all new housing within existing city limits in the next 30 years.

The report was done by Studio D4's Patrick Fontein and Jasmax architects.

The council wants about 300,000 of the 400,000 new houses to rise within the town boundaries. Many commercial developers opposed this plan, saying it is not viable.

Udale, of Essentia Consulting Group, doubted the plan would work, and offered options. He said if there were just 15 new houses built on each hectare of land, many small-lot suburban housing and townhouses, the city would need an extra 20,000ha.

But if 25 houses were built on a hectare and terrace-style residences were a big part of the mix, 12,000ha of land was needed. If 100 dwellings were built on each hectare, just 3000ha of extra land would be needed, he calculated.

Udale then asked the council, where would all the land come from? He encouraged the council to work on a careful plan for housing in the next three decades and shun its focus off compactness, and instead work on livability and quality of life.

The Herald spoke to Stuart Munro, Milestone Homes' co-owner, and he said high-rise housing was not the answer to effective residential planning because it could not replicate the quality of life and sense of community that traditional homes offered. He added that until more land was zoned for construction, developers will continue to create homes on available land.