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Single House Zone in Auckland: what the zone allows, and where a granny flat fits

The Residential Single House Zone is one of the Auckland Unitary Plan's residential zones. It is built around one house per site, and the plan provides for a minor dwelling on top of it. Here is what the plan says in the version on the council's Unitary Plan website on 3 November 2026, what changed for minor dwellings on 30 October, how the zone sits with the national 70 m² granny flat standard, what the zone says about subdivision, and how to check which zone your section is in.

What is the Residential Single House Zone?

The zone's purpose is to maintain and enhance the amenity values of established residential neighbourhoods. The plan says multi-unit development is not anticipated: additional housing is limited to the conversion of an existing dwelling into two dwellings and to minor dwellings. Buildings are generally one to two storeys high, in keeping with a suburban character.

The plan's own name for it is "Residential - Single House Zone", chapter H3. Auckland's plan uses its own zone names, such as the Single House Zone, the Mixed Housing Suburban Zone or the Large Lot Zone, rather than the national ones. Our guide to minor dwellings in Auckland compares how the other residential zones treat a minor dwelling.

How do I check whether my section is in the Single House Zone?

1. Look up your address on the plan's maps. The Auckland Unitary Plan website links to the council's Unitary Plan viewer under "Maps". Search for your property, then read the zone shown for it and the overlays or controls that apply to it.
2. Read the zone's chapter. Each residential zone has its own chapter, H1 to H6: H3 is the Single House Zone. The rules for your site are the zone's, plus those of the overlays and the Auckland-wide chapters that apply to it.
3. Ask the council or your designer. Your project information memorandum (PIM) gives the council's information about your section, which can include information from the district and regional plans. If the map and the chapter leave a doubt, ask Auckland Council to confirm your zone and your rules in writing.

The zone's chapter is marked in several places "PC 120" and "new text to be inserted": Plan Change 120 (Housing Intensification and Resilience) would insert new text there. That plan change is still going through its process, so check the current text for your site before you rely on any figure below.

What does the Single House Zone allow?

The plan's activity table gives each activity a status. A permitted activity needs no resource consent if its standards are met. A non-complying activity needs a resource consent, and consent must be refused if its effects are more than minor and it is also contrary to the plan's objectives and policies.

A minor dwelling is defined in the plan as a dwelling that is secondary to the principal dwelling on the site. A second full house is a different thing: in this zone it is non-complying.

The Single House Zone's main building standards

These are the plan's own standards. Overlays such as special character or natural hazard layers, and the Auckland-wide chapters, can add more.

Minor dwellings in the Single House Zone: what changed on 30 October

A minor dwelling is a permitted activity in the zone, with one standard that is specific to it: there must be no more than one minor dwelling per site. The other two standards that used to sit beside it are now shown as deleted in the plan: a floor area of 65 m² at most, excluding decks and garaging, and an outdoor living space of at least 5 m² for a studio or one-bedroom dwelling and 8 m² for two or more bedrooms. The plan marks both "S 104(1A)".

That matches a change to the Resource Management Act that came into force on 30 October 2026. A new section 104(1A), inserted by the Planning Act 2026, tells a consent authority to disregard, for residential activities, the area of glazing, balconies, the outdoor living space, the internal layout, the size of a residential unit and the size of landscaped areas, except in relation to permeability and to the protection of historic heritage. A new section 76(6) adds that a rule must not require a resource consent solely because it relates to one of these matters. Auckland Council's own explanation of the markers could not be read for this guide, so ask the council how they apply to your site.

One more point, for the zone: the plan's old purpose statement for minor dwellings spoke of accommodation limited in size. It now says only that a minor dwelling provides accommodation secondary to the principal dwelling.

How the Single House Zone fits with the 70 m² granny flat rules

Two separate sets of national rules came into force on 15 January 2026, and the zone's rules sit beside them:

• Planning: the national standard for detached minor residential units lets you add one detached unit of up to 70 m² to a site that has a principal home, as a permitted activity in a residential zone, without resource consent, if it meets the standard's conditions.
• Building: the granny flat exemption in the Building Act 2004 lets a new, stand-alone, single-storey home of 70 m² or less be built without a building consent, if it meets every condition, and the council has issued a PIM before any building work starts.

They can operate independently: a granny flat can meet one and not the other. Our guides to the 2026 granny flat rules and to minor dwellings in Auckland explain each in full.

Here are the numbers side by side, for a unit that meets the national standard:

The regulations say that no other district plan rule applies to a unit that meets them, apart from the matters they keep for the plan: subdivision, matters of national importance under section 6 of the Resource Management Act, uses other than residential, papakāinga, earthworks, and the rules of the principal home that manage health and safety, such as natural hazards and site-specific infrastructure. They also let a plan rule be more lenient than the national standard. On that reading, the national figures replace the zone's yard and coverage figures for a unit that meets them. Where a council has not yet implemented the national zone names, the regulations read "residential zone" as the nearest equivalent in its plan. Ask Auckland Council to confirm in writing how that applies to the Single House Zone and to your section before you rely on the higher coverage figure.

For the building consent exemption, the zone does not change anything: the exemption asks for at least 2 m from any legal boundary and from any other residential building, whatever the zone's yards say.

Subdividing in the Single House Zone

A detached minor residential unit is held in common ownership with the principal home, on the same site. Subdivision stays under the district plan's control, even for a unit that meets the national standard. In the Single House Zone, the plan's subdivision chapter says:

• the minimum net site area for a vacant proposed site is 600 m², where the parent site is under 1 ha;
• subdividing a minor dwelling from the principal dwelling is a restricted discretionary activity if the proposed sites comply with the zone's minimum site size for subdivision;
• if they do not, it is a prohibited activity: it cannot be the subject of an application for resource consent, and would first need a plan change.

So a granny flat on a section smaller than the minimum cannot be put on its own title in this zone. Check the minimum that applies to your proposal with Auckland Council before you plan a subdivision: this guide does not cover the subdivision rules in full.

What this means for a Yard 37 or a Yard 57

• Floor area: 35.2 m² inside the walls for the Yard 37 (37.2 m² overall) and about 54.3 m² for the Yard 57 (56.7 m² overall), both under the 70 m² of the national standard and of the building consent exemption.
• Detached and single storey: either can be the one minor dwelling on a section that has a principal home.
• Distances: plan at least 2 m between the expanded unit and the house, and between the unit and each boundary, measured to the outside face of its walls. The exemption needs it in any case.
• Building coverage: count the whole site, house and other buildings included, against the figure the council confirms for your section: 35% under the zone, or up to 50% under the national standard.
• Building rules: two questions about our units have been open with MBIE since 23 October 2026, on homes built overseas and on our bolted steel frame. Until MBIE answers in writing, we take no deposit for a project that relies on the exemption. Nothing is payable to us until your PIM is issued and your consent pathway is confirmed in writing. Our guide to expandable granny flats in New Zealand explains both questions.

Our turnkey prices on a standard metro Auckland section, GST included, are from NZD 170,000 for the Yard 37 and from NZD 230,000 for the Yard 57. Our guide to granny flat costs in Auckland shows each part.

Checklist for your section

1. Your zone and any overlay on the Unitary Plan maps, and whether Plan Change 120 changes them.
2. A principal home on the site, and no other minor dwelling already there.
3. Room for the unit with 2 m clearances, and the building coverage the council confirms for your section.
4. Natural hazards, heritage, earthworks and any covenant on your title: the rules that still apply.
5. Subdivision: if you ever want a separate title, ask the council before you design the project.
6. Services, your PIM, the development contributions and Watercare's growth charge.
7. Truck and crane access to the place where the unit will stand.

Frequently asked questions

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