Upzoning won’t magically improve housing affordability

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The ‘Yes in My Backyard’ (YIMBY) movement has long argued that the solution to Australia’s crisis lies in upzoning our cities to permit high-rise apartments in more locations.

YIMBYs often point to the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP), implemented in 2016, which allowed the upzoning of approximately three-quarters of Auckland’s residential land area.

The Grattan Institute claims that this one planning change lowered rents in Auckland by 28% relative to no upzoning:

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.