Auckland's heritage villas and bungalows are among the city's most loved and most liveable homes. From Devonport and Northcote Point to Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay and beyond, the streets of intact character homes that define these neighbourhoods are irreplaceable. As a practice specialising in heritage architecture across Auckland, we think about them every day.
Right now, that character is under pressure.
Auckland Council's Proposed Plan Change 120 (PC120) seeks to reduce the Special Character Area (SCA) overlay across the city from approximately 21,000 properties to around 15,500. For homeowners in Auckland's heritage and special character areas, this matters a great deal.
The SCA overlay is not a barrier to great design. It is the framework that makes great design possible in a heritage context. It ensures that any work on your villa, bungalow or character home is done thoughtfully, with proper regard for the streetscape and the neighbourhood around it.
Remove that protection, and those same homes become vulnerable to inappropriate intensification and demolition: the kind of incremental loss that quietly strips a suburb of everything that made it worth living in.
We have submitted our opposition to any reduction of the SCA overlay across Auckland's heritage zones.
The second round of public submissions closes at 5pm today, 24 September 2026. If you haven't yet had your say, there is still time on AK Have Your Say. If you submitted earlier, your submission still stands.
If you own a heritage property within Auckland's Special Character Areas and want to understand what PC120 means for your home, or simply want to explore what's possible within the overlay, we'd love to talk.