By Anna Bensemann, Senior Planner, Baseline Group | Apr 08, 2022
Subdivision of land is often depicted as being an effective way to maximise the value of your land. While there is little doubt your land is worth more held in two titles rather than one, what most first-time property developers don't realise is the costs, or number of professionals and Council departments involved. A simple subdivision will include planning, surveying, engineering, and legal professionals along with construction experts, plumbers and electrician. In addition, a subdivision of land involves Councils Planning team, Assets and Services team, and Roading team. Finally Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) are involved to issue the new titles.
At each stage of development these various parties have to provide each other information to allow the whole development to progress. If one party is delayed for any reason, it can have a knock-on effect for the rest of the development creating further frustrations, particularly when covid and isolation periods are prevalent.
There are some key stages for subdivision, the first of which is determining what section sizes you can achieve and where you can obtain services for water, sewer, stormwater, telecommunications and power, and where access from the road network will be. Surveyors, planners, council staff, power and telecommunication providers all have input into this stage.
Then an application for resource consent can be prepared and lodged by your planning team and processed by council staff. Once approved, there will be a number of conditions that have to be completed to Council’s satisfaction, such as installing services and access, and completing the legal survey of the new section, including putting in the pegs on your property.
In order to meet these conditions, an engineer is often required to provide design details for installation of services to make sure everything flows in the correct direction. A building consent approval from Council is often required to install services into their network, or for effluent to a septic tank system.
Once services are installed, appropriate evidence of the installed services (as built plans) need to be provided to council and approved, before the legal professional and the surveyor submit everything to LINZ for the issuing of titles. It is the title to the land which is sold and purchased, meaning you cannot complete the sale of a section until these titles have been issued.
Given time delays in recent years, and the need to coordinate between so many professionals and trades people, a full resource consent process can take twelve months or more. So, while the dream of subdividing your land and having additional wealth is appealing for the current market, it is important to realise the time and coordination undertaken by your surveying and planning professionals as they seek to secure your titles.
Articles you might be interested in
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan Update
- Cross lease titles - an overview
- Hazardous activities, land contamination and resource consent applications
- Councils are Increasing Residential Density, but why, who does it benefit?
- Minimum Car Parking Requirements to be Chopped
- Changes to Resource Management Planning Signalled in Proposed Legislation
- With increasing density, good design matters
- Good District Plan provisions save time and money
- Is the RMA really the problem?
- What does a professional planner do?
- How Tree Canopies Transform Neighbourhoods and Enhance Lives
- Crunch Time For New Freshwater Legislation
- Navigating New Opportunities: The Importance of Land Development Planning in 2024
- Historic Heritage Challenges for Landowners
- Spotlight on District Plan Provisions
- Confused by Environmental Legislation? You are Not Alone.
- The rise or fall of rural lifestyle blocks in the Selwyn District?
- Selwyn District Council Changes Urban Allotment Sizes
- But that’s the way we have always done it!
- Who Pays for Infrastructure in Greenfield Land Development?
- Our History - How We All Play a Part in its Protection
- Risks to farmland in the planning framework
- State highways, noise and reverse sensitivity: what’s the buzz?
- The Role of Planning in the Climate Change - Discussion for Agriculture
- Housing Growth continues in Selwyn with Legislative Support
- The costs of subdividing hitting Selwyn | development contributions
- Is it a Wetland or Not?
- New Indigenous Biodiversity Legislation Mandates Significant Natural Area Identification
- Wild Weather and Resource Consent Requirements
- Planning Permissions – Resource Consent or Plan Change?
- Flood Management | Changes in Selwyn
- Burning crop stubble on your property?
- Boundary disputes – What are they and how can you resolve them?
- Game changers for housing under the RMA
- Crime Prevention Through Environment Design (CPTED)
- Managing Cultural Heritage Sites
- Housing Intensification – Not for Everyone Says CCC
- Rivers, Lakes and Coastline, Public Space for All
- The National Policy Statement for Natural Hazard Decision-Making and its effects on Resource Consents
- Time's up on the RMA
- What does an activity status mean for your land development?
- Time matters – With Resource Consent
- Planning land use to be resilient to natural hazards
- What does The Selwyn District Plan (appeals version) mean for the planning process and consent?
- Why we have complicated septic tank disposal rules
- Change isn't coming, it's here!
- Fundamental Culture Shift in New Zealand Planning Legislation.
- The impact of consent notices when purchasing land
- Proposed Selwyn District Plan - What next?
- Have your say on Development Projects
- A Practical Guide for District Plan Reviews
- Tiny Home Revolution May Not Save Costs
- The Great Forestry Debate
- Land Development opportunities and times of change
- Minimum car parking requirements to be chopped
- Your Rights as an Affected Neighbour: Navigating Development Under the RMA
- How lizards might affect your new development
- The Role of Planning in Land and Property Development
- Flood Management – An Update
- Who Shapes our Planning Rules?
- How to navigate Rural Land Development Under the National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Soils
- Buildings under exemptions may still need resource consent
- A recent Baseline Group project was recognised at the 2022 Canterbury Architecture Awards
- District Plan in Selwyn – How will it Affect You?
- The importance of knowing your boundaries
- Managing Wastewater in Rural Canterbury: A Guide for Property Owners
- Commercial Activity in a Rural Zone – What’s the Harm?
- Importance of Sediment Management in Land Development Projects: Simple Techniques for Effective Sediment Runoff Control
- Negotiating with Neighbours Under the RMA
- What to do when you inherit land
- Outstanding Natural Features and Landscapes - effect on farming
- Indigenous Biodiversity: what does it mean for a farmer?
- Make Your Additional Land Profitable Under the Selwyn Proposed Plan
- Rural Allotment Sizes set to Double
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs
- RMA changes are coming, are you ready?
- Planning Rules can Affect Property Value
- Rural allotment sizes set to double in West Selwyn
- Balancing Common Sense and Legal Process under the RMA: Protecting Communities and the Environment
- How might Development Contributions affect you?
- Highly Productive Soils – Big Picture Thinking vs Private Landowners Needs