No post Unitary Plan subdivision boom

Subdivision consent numbers from Auckland Council show that in the 10 months before the Unitary Plan came into effect the council had 3,171 subdivision (only) applications across the Auckland region

In the 10 months after the Unitary Plan came into effect, the council had 2,286 subdivision (only) applications across the region.

But Auckland Council GM resource consents Ian Smallburn said that the differences between the Unitary Plan and the previous district plans mean this is not necessarily an accurate comparison.

“As an example, the Unitary Plan provides a quick and easy way for owners to convert an existing cross leased site to a fee simple title, so we have anecdotally seen an up-turn in those particular subdivision applications. 

“That conversion does not add any further housing potential to the city because there were two houses before the subdivision took place and there are still only two houses at the end of the subdivision process.”

At the other end of the subdivision spectrum, because the Unitary Plan encourages more density, more houses are permitted under one subdivision consent, he said.

“The numbers above do not give us the number of lots or dwellings that might have been enabled by those subdivision applications.

“Further, they don’t include “bundled” consents as the council does not currently separate these consents from their bundle. A bundled consent could include several types of resource consents, including land use and subdivision.”

Property listing and data websites also indicated they had not seen any noticeable increase in the number or cost of sub-dividable properties on the market since the Unitary Plan came into effect.

Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Taylor said it was tough to compare subdivision sale numbers post-Unitary Plan to previous years as the subdivision rules were very different.