A sweeping new housing policy was introduced by both Labour and National on Tuesday.

The rules propose far more medium-density housing, enabling people to build up to three homes of three storeys on most sites without any need for resource consent, from August 2022.

Currently, district plans typically only allow for one home of up to two storeys.

But while that's good news for developers, and possibly bad news for anyone next door to a site owned by a developer, will it actually make much difference to the rest of us?

READ MORE: * Labour, National announce sweeping housing density law, three-storey homes without consent * Labour and National's plan to increase housing density by cutting regulation and sticking it to NIMBYs * Garden City at risk? Christchurch reacts to new housing density rules * New rules could mean thousands of new homes in Wellington

Every council in a “tier 1” city – Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch – will be required to allow medium-density housing on all residential land without the resource consent process.

While the detail of district plans vary across the country, currently most people who want to build something other than one standard two-storey house with a garden on a single section have to apply for both resource and building consent.

That two-step process is lengthy, expensive, politically charged and, for many people, more trouble than it’s worth.

“Councils can reject resource consent for a multitude of reasons, and can also ask for changes. Part of that process is generally asking for written consent from neighbours who might be affected by said development – say by losing some sunlight,” explains Stuff chief political reporter Henry Cooke.

“Even if you do that, councils can ask for the consent to be “notified” if they believe it will affect a wider community. This means that you have to publicly announce whatever you’re building, and then allow time for other interested parties, such as neighbours, to object if they wish to.”

From August 2022, that will be no more.

Definitely. “This policy does not change the rules for building consents – these will still be required in the situations they are now,” said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“Resource consents will not be required where buildings comply with the new Medium Density Residential Standards. In many cases, these new standards would enable additional dwellings to be built in front/backyards.”

That might mean a family could put a granny flat in the garden to give themselves extra space without a process which, according to Auckland urban designer Matt Prasad, can easily add up to $50,000 and months of time, with no guarantees of approval.

Obtaining a building consent is generally more straightforward than a resource consent, says John Tookey, professor of construction management at AUT University.

That’s because a resource consent is a conceptual solution, your idea to build something. Whereas the building consent is approval on your actual plans to build (the blueprints, measurements, engineering etc).

“So in essence, you’re cutting out that first step, and a whole lot of admin,” says Tookey.

“You’re just saying: Is this structure the right height and size, and so on? As opposed to: Does council think this tiny house is aesthetically pleasing and fits in with the neighbourhood.”

This isn’t a free for all, sorry DIY dreamers. Anything you build will still need to meet the new standards.

That means whatever you build can be up to three storeys high and cover up to 50 per cent of a plot of land. You can take up an extra 10 per cent (rounding up to 60 per cent of the land) including pavement.

Each section can feature up to three units, although each one will need some type of outdoor area.

Buildings have to sit at least a metre away from side boundaries and 2.5 metres from a front boundary.

If councils wish to they can amend these requirements to make them more permissive – ie allowing higher buildings – but they are not allowed to make them less permissive.

This applies to tiny houses, too.

Houses at ground floor will need at least 15sqm of outdoor space, and houses with no ground floor will need at least 8sqm.

Each unit/house needs an outlook from the living room(s) and each bedroom (just a gentle reminder, Wellington landlords). The lounge will need a 3m by 3m outlook, and “habitable spaces” AKA bedrooms need 1m by 1m.

That's to make sure there's sufficient distance between your living room view, and a direct line of sight to somebody else getting dressed in the morning.

If what they’re building complies with all the standards we just talked about, then no – or at least, not easily.

“They will still require a resource consent if they are not compliant with the standards, but will only be assessed on the ones they do not meet,” said the HUD spokesperson. “This would be a narrower assessment than under plans currently.”

So if you’ve got a neighbour (developer or otherwise) who was previously turned down for their plans to squeeze three houses onto their section, they will be able to go ahead with that now.

Tookey says he has no doubt that this will stir up a “NIMBY problem writ large”.

“You will always have grounds to make objections, but the grounds for making an objection will be much more constrained,” he said.

You might not know about a neighbour’s three-storey building until after it’s built.

“There would be no requirement for a resource consent and no public notification, which means no formal opportunity to object,” said the HUD spokesperson. Tough luck, basically.

However, what’s built will still have to be up to Building Code, weathertight and not earthquake-prone.

Councils and neighbours, NIMBY or otherwise, will have some limited avenues of appeal.

Councils can decide to not allow development if there is a good reason such as a natural hazard or heritage value.

“The new medium-density residential standards will enable existing sites to have three properties without any subdivision,” says the HUD.

“You can choose to subdivide your land, but this does require a resource consent.”

So you can build other units on your land to rent out without resource consent, but if you would like to one day have the opportunity to sell them individually, then that’s another story.

“We expect to see people who want to build more densely on their land to do so. The standards provide a range of ways they can do that, including townhouses and units,” says the ministry.

“This will lead to a wider range of more affordable homes being built.”

The new medium-density standards will allow for a wider range of house types.

That means granny flats and/or tiny homes on the back of sections; the addition of two townhouses/units to section that already has an existing house; or three new builds; or a three-storey building split into three dwellings.

We’re not suddenly going to have three dwellings on every single section. The ministry also thinks we’re likely to see people adding another storey to the top of their house, or extending and renovating in other ways.

“The standards also enable people to build larger and higher buildings than under current plans,” their spokesperson said.

“This will be beneficial for those wanting to renovate or extend their house.”

Analysis suggests this could result in up to 105,000 new dwellings over the next eight years, giving city dwellers more choices about where they can affordably live.