Call to drop build compliance costs

The Kaipara District Council said the reforms' overall impact on the district was uncertain at this stage. Photo / NZME.

Northland's district councils want the government to focus on reducing building compliance costs rather than land availability under proposed reforms to the Resource Management Act.

They were responding to promises made this week by Environment Minister Nick Smith that the key piece of legislation for environmental protection would be overhauled to address housing supply and affordability. They include forcing councils to free up more land for new homes and slashing costs associated with compliance and resource consent.

Dr Smith's speech coincided with the release of a working paper commissioned by Treasury and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) which said a number of housing projects had been abandoned because of the delays and uncertainties in the RMA.

For projects which proceeded, regulations such as height limits added $30,000 in extra costs to each new apartment. Councils' section size requirements and urban design considerations added an extra $15,000 to the cost of a new home, he said.

Councillor Ann Court, chairwoman of the Far North District Council's regulatory and environment committee, welcomed any changes that simplified procedures and provided better service to ratepayers.

"The RMA and the Building Act are very complex beasts and councils are required to impose them by statute so there's not much room to move," she said.

Ms Court said, unlike Auckland, land availability was not an issue in the Far North but the RMA continued to hold up building applications.

FNDC spokesman Richard Edmondson said revenue from fees and charges from building consent, resource consent, hire charges, bulk water purchases, water by meter charges and rents accounted for about 29 per cent of council income in 2013/14.

The Kaipara District Council said the reforms' overall impact on the district was uncertain at this stage.

"Housing affordability issues are not necessarily the same throughout the country and the issues facing Auckland such as expanding the Auckland metropolitan urban limit; facilitating high-rise developments and medium density housing are not challenges that the Kaipara district are facing," general manager regulatory and district planning, Fran Mikulicic said.

He said the KDC continued to free up land for development and had a District Plan which was reasonably permissive.

Whangarei District Council group manager district living, Paul Dell, predicts any reduction in compliance costs will be minimal.

Whangarei land developer and Homeworld owner, Barry Trass, said cutting the amount of the red tape would help builders and homeowners immensely.

"Any changes that reduce red tape bureaucracy and unnecessary compliance costs would be fantastic. Government has realised a lot of unnecessary regulations and costs associated with property development," he said.