Homeowners are concerned a decision to exclude them from a school's enrolment zone could affect property values.
In December, the Ministry of Education announced it would rezone Auckland's Albany Primary School and remove the entire suburb of Unsworth Heights from its admission zone.
No longer in the catchment area of a decile nine primary school, Unsworth Heights has now be classified "unzoned" and its closest unzoned school is a decile six facility in Wairau Valley.
According to research (https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt ... lity-march-2018.pdf), each additional decile, on average, adds about $22,500 to the price of a home – potentially affecting the future value of Unsworth Height properties by nearly $70k.
Anglea Jia has lived in Unsworth Heights for 10 years and is concerned: "It's one of the hot topics at our dinner table every night ... we're quite angry about it to be honest."
Jia said the house she and her husband bought was advertised as being in the Albany school zone, "now that has changed without anything replacing it".
"Now there could be less demand for buyers and renters wanting to come here because it's not in the school zone."