Auckland’s post-war housing policy

I've been approached by John Fountain who is undertaking research into the topic of post-war housing policy in Auckland. You'll find his own blog post here.

"Here is an open letter to anyone with knowledge of New Zealand’s regulatory policy on self contained accommodation units in residential “zones" ...

"I  would like to find out what special measures – especially at local levels – have been  taken in New Zealand urban areas (esp Auckland, possibly other main centers) during the post-war period in times of housing shortages . I am particularly interested in local community initiatives to help returning servicemen/women and their families obtain housing, either rental or ownership, in the main urban areas in New Zealand.  I don’t mean in State provided housing or  in purpose built camps/compounds, but  in options for self contained accommodation  provided by existing residents in the areas where returning servicemen and their families would have wanted to live – ie in proximity to good  transport,  schools, parks, shopping and other services – but found both rents or house prices  in these places unaffordable. An archivist at the  Alexander Turnbull  pointed me to a Dept of Housing booklet “Buy, Build or Rent: housing assistance for the ex-serviceman” (1946)  . This booklet mentions the existence of many initiatives at local community levels – but has no further information about them.

"I suspect  there may have been some significant and interesting local community changes in regulatory policies that either actively encouraged or turned a blind eye to initiatives taken by existing residents to provide secondary suite type self contained accommodation …but am only guessing at this stage. By “secondary suites” I mean self contained accommodation units (could be as small as a studio size apartment these days, or more substantial 2 or 3 bedroom units with separate living areas, bedrooms, kitchen facilities, toilet/shower, etc) , internal  to or external to an existing dwelling- eg  renovations of an existing house/garage/sleepout  to create a second  self contained accommodation unit  . In NZ and OZ these go by the name “granny flats “, but of course their tenants, or owners, could be anyone but granny herself!"

 More at the link.