Christchurch City Council Reduces Development Contributions; Good news for Developers

At Fox & Associates, we constantly search for ways to improve our clients’ financial and development outcomes. Whether by our passion and skills for design, maximising the value of properties, or our prowess in negotiating terms of approval with local authorities.

In the last couple of months, the Christchurch City Council have reviewed their rationale on how development contributions for subdivisions and residential developments are assessed. We think their review is long overdue and bring to your attention the profound changes to the amounts levied by the Council for regional, sport and neighbourhood parks in particular. The levies for parks listed in a subdivision consent have been reduced by as much as eighty per cent in some cases!

An example of how one developer has saved thousands because of the review.

We had completed the conditions of consent for a five-section hillside subdivision and were about to pay the development contributions as listed in the original consent. That is until we discovered the Council would apply the new rates for development contributions IF a replacement consent was submitted. The timing was fortuitous because if the development contribution had already been paid, the Council would not have refunded the difference between the old and new rates. In this case, we saved our client nearly $43k as the development contributions for the extra four titles was reduced from $86,618 to $43,679.

It is essential to note that development contributions listed in an existing consent will only be reduced if a replacement consent is applied for and granted. The cost of a replacement consent will be minimal because the original application data is accepted. The only change in the new consent will be a reduction in the development contributions.

We urge you to review the development contribution listed in any Christchurch City Council subdivision consent.