Navigation

Archive | District Plan

Can I use My House Or Part Of My House For Commerical Activities? Examples from Waitakere City District Plan and Auckland City District Plan

By on July 20, 2010 in Blog, Development Potential, District Plan, Pre Purchase

A common question relating to the development potential of a residential property is if the property can be used for commercial purposes.

Generally most District Plans allow commercial activities within residential zones to a certain extent, but they usually specify a maximum threshold (such as a maximum number of vehicle movements associated with the commercial activity or the maximum number of employees involved in the commercial activity that do not reside at the property) below which, the activity is permitted (i.e. resource consent is not required) and above which, the activity will require resource consent.

Below are two examples, from the Waitakere City and Auckland City District Plans that illustrate such thresholds for commercial activities:

Continue Reading →

Can I Subdivide My Site? – Taupo District Plan Example

By on July 14, 2010 in Blog, Development Potential, District Plan, Pre Purchase, Subdivision, Zoning

A common property question asked is if a site can be subdivided – or if a second residential dwelling or unit can be built on a property.

To answer these questions you first need to establish the zoning of the site and what the rules for the specific zone provide for. There are also other restrictions to subdividing or constructing additional buildings on a site – including any limitations noted within the ‘Interests” of the relevant Certificate of Title or if there are capacity issues in servicing the site – i.e. water supply, storm water and waste connections). To discuss any of these additional restrictions and limitations contact us.

In this post, I have used an example from the Taupo District Council District Plan. Figure 1 below is a snapshot of land within the Taupo District that have a mix of different zones.

Figure 1: Zoning maps

Zoning map from the Taupo District Council District PlanZoning Map from the Taupo District Council District Plan

Continue Reading →

Resource Consents for Minor Dwellings in the Auckland City District Plan

By on July 14, 2010 in Blog, District Plan, Resource Consent

The Auckland region is growing at such a fast rate that it is estimated in approximately twenty years the region will have to accommodate an increase in population equal to the size of Wellington within its boundaries. Regional policies and strategies seek to accommodate this growth mostly within existing urban areas, with only a small portion of this growth to be accommodated within Greenfield developments. Within the existing urban areas, growth is to be concentrated in intensified areas. However, these policies and strategies neglect to consider the role that traditional suburban areas could play in accommodating growth. Growth in such areas could be accommodated by obtaining resource consent for minor dwellings/units commonly known as ‘granny flats’.

The Auckland City: Growth Management Strategy (December 2003) seeks to fulfil the objectives of the regions Growth Management Strategy and Regional Policy Statement by providing for growth within high density centres and corridors such as Newmarket, Remuera, Ellerslie, Mt Albert, Panmure, Mt Wellington Quarry, Onehunga, Pt Chevalier and Sylvia Park. These areas are known as the ‘areas of change’.
Continue Reading →