Prominent Tauranga property developer Bob Thorne says he is likely to quit building subdivisions in the city despite the Government's push to reform the Resource Management Act later this year to stop costly delays and bring houses to the market faster.
Housing and Building Minister Nick Smith told the Bay of Plenty Times it took on average seven years to get a plan change through the RMA, which was "helping nobody but the planners and lawyers". Improvements could be made in the building consenting process to give greater emphasis on housing affordability and reduce huge holding costs to developers that were then passed on to the buyer, Mr Smith said.
"It is no good for the land developer that wants to get on with the project and is not helping the homeowner sitting there frustratingly trying to get access to a new home that is not yet built."
But Mr Thorne said the risk was far too great for the returns and he had encountered significant hold-ups during his Urban Ridge development on the boundary of the "Bethlehem Triangle" - it included 300 houses with a further 60 to be built by the project's conclusion in 2017.
"We'd be reluctant to do any more development in Tauranga quite frankly because of all the delays caused through bureaucracy and all the cost. Consultancy costs are near double what they were five years ago and certainly nothing gets processed any faster."