Development contributions

Introduction

Overview
What are the charges?
What will the contributions be spent on?

Overview

Auckland is growing rapidly. The population is increasing and there is a significant amount of commercial development in the city. With growth comes a great deal of opportunity, but it also brings increased costs to manage the growth of the city. We must ensure that we provide the assets and services needed for Auckland to remain a great place to live and work as the city grows.

Most of these costs are met from three complementary funding sources - rates, development contributions and financial contributions.

Auckland City Council has required financial contributions to be paid for some developments for many years. These are charged under rules in the district plan, as provided for in the Resource Management Act 1991.

The council has also required development contributions to be paid for some developments since July 2005. These are charged under a development contributions policy, as provided for in the Local Government Act 2002. This policy helps to recover some of the costs of growth associated with increasing the capacity of the city's infrastructure, including open spaces, community facilities and the stormwater and transport networks.

What are the charges?

If you are considering any development work in the future, we recommend that you or your professional advisers consult the appropriate full policy to ensure you understand how development contributions may be applied.

Both residential and non-residential developments have been subject to development contributions from 1 July 2005. This includes developments in the central area (the CBD). Development contributions will apply from 1 July 2008 for residential developments on the Hauraki Gulf Islands.

The charges depend on the type of development, where it is within the city, and when the required consents were accepted for lodgement. A consent application may be subject to:

You can see which policy applies if you know when the required consents were accepted for lodgement. The policy is also likely to change in future.

Some consents will also be subject to financial contributions.

Development contributions are not currently required for normal residential extensions or alterations to an existing dwelling such as decks, swimming pools or extra rooms, unless these create an additional household unit, or alter a feature that was used to claim an earlier reduction. For example, adding a basement flat, or adding another bedroom to a unit that previously paid the reduced "one-bedroom unit" charge, will be subject to development contributions.

What will the contributions be spent on?

Development contributions revenue will be spent on projects that provide additional capacity to meet the demands of growth. This can include growth costs for:

stormwater (including new and upgraded stormwater drains)
community facilities (including new and upgraded community centres, libraries, cultural facilities, recreation centres and swimming pools)
open space (including the purchase of land for, and the development of, parks and reserves)
transport (including providing more lanes for cars and buses, and cycleways and walkways).

These projects will be carried out all across the city, as growth is occurring right across Auckland.

Reviewed June 2008