Subdividing - Can You? and How Much Will It Cost?
"Can I Subdivide?"
This is one of the most common questions we get, and we’d love to give you a simple formula to work it out. Unfortunately there’s no standard answer, as every property really is different. That’s why we need to investigate each property individually.
When you bring your project to us, our Surveyors and Planners will consider your property in relation to a variety of Resource Management Act and local authority rules to determine if and how your property can be subdivided.
Below are just some of the issues we need to consider:
Which Council does your property come under?
- Development rules & standards can vary greatly from one local authority to the next.
Which zone of the District Plan is your property in?
- Each zone has different rules regarding lot sizes, access, density, site coverage, set back distances etc.
What size is your property? And what shape?
- Just because your property is double the minimum lot size or bigger, doesn’t mean you can automatically subdivide.
- There are rules about minimum road frontages, and the lot size area usually excludes any right-of-way; so on a long skinny section the right-of-way could take up a large chunk of the available area and not leave you enough for a new section.
Location of any existing houses or other buildings on site.
- An existing dwelling may be located such that is doesn’t leave room for an access way to your proposed new
- or it may be in the middle of a property so there’s not enough area in front or behind it for a separate
- or it may create an unusual shape for the proposed new
Where are the driveway and existing services located?
- How will power, phone, gas, water, storm water, and wastewater services be supplied to the any new Lots?
- Some Council’s do not permit service lines to cross lot boundaries, so you may need to re-lay existing services to allow for proposed new boundaries.
What classification of road is your property on?
- Councils and the NZ Transport Authority have rules about the number and location of entrance ways they will allow on to a road.
- These depend on things like the classification of the road, the speed limit, visibility distances, and distances from intersections.
The answer to these and other rules are part of what goes into the subdivision consent application we lodge with Council on your behalf.
Failure to meet one or more of the relevant RMA or District Plan rules:
- This won’t necessarily stop you subdividing, but it will change how your application is classified and processed by Council.
- Council may be able to consider your application themselves, and impose conditions to mitigate any non-compliance.
- Or if there are several rules your proposal doesn’t comply with, they may publicly notify your application and call for submissions by affected parties.
Council are constantly reviewing and changing their district plans & development guidelines.
It’s our job to stay informed of the latest changes and interpretations, so you should come to see us first, especially if you are considering purchasing a property with the intention of subdividing it or developing it further.
"How Much Will It Cost To Subdivide?"
If you’ve read ‘Can I Subdivide?’ above, you’ll understand why it’s also difficult to give a standard answer to the question of cost. Once again, every property and every subdivision is different, therefore the costs will differ.
There are the obvious differences, like how many lots you are dividing off. But there are plenty of other factors that affect both our fee to provide the surveying services, and the overall cost of your subdivision.
You’ll need to weigh all these costs against what you expect to make by selling when you’re deciding if it’s going to be worth while.
When you come to see us, we will look at your property and what you’re hoping to achieve, and work out a fee estimate for our services that is specific to your job. This is based on the different tasks we expect will be required, and how long we estimate it will take to do them.
Below are some other costs you may need to factor in to your development budget:
Council fees differ according to Council, to your property, and to what you intend to do:
- consent applications
- services connection fees
- engineering approval
- the public notification process (if applicable)
- hearings (if applicable)
- clearance sign-off and certificates
- development contributions
- roading, drainage and services levies
Council may also require you to consult with:
- Geotechnical engineers
- Environment
- Urban Design consultants
- Local Iwi
- Heritage or archaeological consultants
You may need to undertake physical works:
- building or upgrading vehicle crossings
- right-of-way construction
- laying power, phone, and gas supply lines
- water supply & connections
- waste water pipes
- storm water drainage or soak holes
- re-laying exiting services to avoid crossing new boundary lines
- earthworks to create suitable building platforms
- tree planting for screening
Land Information
- Survey lodgement fee
- Titles application fee
Solicitor fees will include some or all of the following:
- Application to
- Preparation of easement documents and consent notices
- Adding covenants to new Titles
- Removing existing covenants or easements
Costs of Financing
- You may need to borrow money to complete the subdivision before you can sell it off and recoup costs, so don’t forget to include finance costs and interest & loan repayments in your calculations.
Costs of Selling
- Real Estate fees
- Valuer fees
- Solicitor fees
This list is not exhaustive, and not every subdivision will require all of this work and all of these costs. It is simply intended as a starting point for you to think about when considering your next land development project.