Source: New Zealand Government
The Government is making it easier for owners of Māori land to build homes, with the release of new National Environmental Standards for Papakāinga (NES-P), say RMA Reform Minister Hon Chris Bishop and Māori Development Minister Hon Tama Potaka.
“The new national standards will provide consistent rules across the country for all councils, reducing complexity, time and cost for Māori landowners, councils and communities,” Mr Bishop says.
“We’ve heard from councils and Māori landowners that planning rules have made it too hard to develop Māori land. These standards give clearer national direction and make it easier to build papakāinga, while maintaining appropriate protections for the environment and residents.”
The new National Environmental Standards for Papakāinga permit up to 10 homes to be built on ancestral Māori land in rural, residential and Māori purpose zones, subject to standards that protect the environment and the health and safety of residents.
District plans will also be able to have rules for papakāinga that are more enabling than those in the NES-P.
“The current system has made it too hard for whānau to build homes on their own land, with rules varying widely between councils and slowing or even stopping development,” Mr Potaka says.
“These standards recognise the connection Māori have to their whenua and make it easier to use collectively owned land for safe, warm homes that support intergenerational living, stronger communities and long-term wellbeing.”
“These changes form part of the Government’s wider programme to improve how national direction currently operates under the Resource Management Act and will continue to have effect during the transitional period under the proposed Planning and Natural Environment Acts,” Mr Bishop says.
“This broader programme is the biggest suite of changes to RMA national direction in New Zealand’s history, including removing barriers to infrastructure, making it easier to build granny flats and support housing growth, removing unworkable rules for the primary sector, and streamlining consenting for renewable energy.”
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Notes for editors
- National Environmental Standards are regulations made under the Resource Management Act that set nationally consistent rules.
- The new standards will come into effect on 2 July, 28 days after publication in the New Zealand Gazette, and councils will need to apply them from that date.The NES-P was consulted on in mid-2025 as part of a broader package of national direction changes under the Resource Management Act 1991, focused on enabling infrastructure and development.
- Most of the proposed NES-P provisions consulted on were included in the final standards.
- The key changes made to the NES-P proposal following consultation were to:
- extend the provisions enabling papakāinga on Treaty of Waitangi settlement land as a restricted discretionary activity, to include papakāinga on any land owned by a post settlement governance entity (PSGE), in their area of interest
- remove land that forms part of a natural feature that has been declared under an Act to be a legal entity or person and the maunga listed in Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014 from the definition of ‘ancestral Māori land’
- add tanks, sheds and decks, and shared kitchen and toilet facilities to the list of ancillary non-residential activities permitted
- require the building floor area of non-residential activities to be no more than 50 percent of the total floor area of residential units
- add a definition for ‘Māori cultural activities’
- increase the setback limits from neighbouring properties to 5 metres in zones for rural purposes
- increase all setback limits to 2 metres in zones for residential purposes
- add stormwater, setbacks from wetlands, protections for nationally and regionally significant infrastructure and noise from ports and airports to the list of matters that continue to apply to papakāinga
- clarify that all regional plan rules will continue to apply to papakāinga
- clarify that all district and combined plan rules not listed in the NES-P will not apply to papakāinga developments
- clarify the matters for discretion and make them more consistent across all restricted discretionary activities.
- The NES‑P Report on Recommendations and Decisions is publicly released under section 46A of the Resource Management Act and available here.
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/06/04/unlocking-papakainga-across-new-zealand/