New Zealand’s government has ordered an end to single-family zoning in its five biggest cities, drawing the attention of B.C. housing advocates and planning experts.

Housing advocates think it is an example worth considering in B.C.’s most expensive markets, but others caution it might have unintended consequences.

Legislation introduced last week would require the New Zealand cities to apply “medium density residential standards” to single-family areas by next August. The new rules will allow property owners to build up to three housing units, to a height of three storeys, covering 50 per cent of what were typically single-family lots in cities including Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

The idea is to encourage construction of more housing, perhaps as many as 75,000 units within eight years, according to consultant PwC’s estimate.

“I think that’s a recognition that, you know, you should let people build some housing,” said Tom Davidoff, director of the Centre for Urban Economics at UBC. “I think what they’ve done is totally appropriate.”

In B.C., Davidoff estimated a similar change would have the biggest impact in the more expensive neighbourhoods, such as Vancouver’s Kerrisdale and Point Grey. While Vancouver allows separate suites and laneway housing in those neighbourhoods, the New Zealand rules would given homeowners far more flexibility to build larger, separate units to replace single-family homes.

While the New Zealand move “does make single-family homes more expensive,” Davidoff said, it would have “a significant effect on prices” by increasing the availability of other housing types, such as multi-unit buildings.

The change is recognition that “New Zealand’s housing shortage is being made worse in our biggest cities by limits on the number and types of houses that can be built,” said the country’s housing minister, Megan Woods.

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