Opportunities for investors in Auckland expansion proposals

"These smaller inner-city dwellings have a place in the market - offering first-time property buyers a first step up on the home ownership ladder. They are also attractive to investors who know they will always have a letting-market of students and young urban professionals wanting to live close to the centre of the city - with all the attractions that style of living offers."

Auckland City Council's Auckland Unleashed discussion paper has outlined a number of proposals and planning guidelines for residential property expansion in the region, and highlights the estimates of Auckland's housing shortfall over the next 20 years vary between 12,000 and 90,000 dewllings.

Bayley said he believed the shortfall to be around the 50,000 to 60,000 mark, and that the template for new dwellings already exists in the shape of high rise apartment blocks, low rise terraced units and lifestyle blocks in the country - what will change he believes is where these properties are located.

"A common word that resonates throughout the Auckland plan is ‘compact.' That would tend to indicate the council is looking at intensifying residential land use as much as possible - going up rather than out."