Additional and minor dwellings

This District Plan information contained on this webpage relates to the provisions of the OPERATIVE District Plan.

Council has notified its PROPOSED Plan (Decisions version) on 30 January 2010 and there may be more restrictive rules under the Proposed Plan (Decisions version) that will affect your proposal. However, due to the ongoing plan review process, a number of rules may be subject to further changes.

You are advised to discuss any proposal with the duty planner

As a permitted activity, each title of land is entitled to one dwelling, not restricted in size but ensuring that it complies with the performance standards of height, yard and daylighting, as well as one minor dwelling limited in size (refer definitions below).

Refer to Building on Maori Land if you are requesting specific information on Maori Land additional dwellings.

Any further dwelling bigger than a minor dwelling will be classified as an additional dwelling.

Definitions

“Minor Dwelling” means a dwelling of not more than 50m2 gross floor area plus an attached garage or carport with gross floor area not exceeding 18m2 (for the purpose of vehicle storage, general storage and laundry facilities). The garage area shall not be used for living accommodation.

Note: The minor dwelling shall be located within 20m of the principal dwelling on the site or vice versa.

Shall share vehicle access with the principal dwelling on the site.

“Dwelling” means a self-contained residential unit designed for or occupied exclusively by one household and includes apartments, semi-detached houses, home units, townhouses and similar forms of residential development.

Financial Contributions

These are one-off fees paid to the Council for the purpose of mitigating the effects of extra loading on the Council supplied services.

These fees are paid for additional dwellings, not minor dwellings.

The types of fees you can expect can range from $8,000 - $30,000 or more per additional dwelling depending on how many Council services you will utilise.

Financial Contributions can be charged for roading, wastewater, water, ecological reserves and stormwater.

Please refer to the Fees and Charges – Resource Consents

Rural Properties
If your property is zoned Rural G or Rural H in the Western Bay district, you are permitted to have one dwelling per 2ha of land with a maximum of three dwellings on any parcel of land; ie you need 4ha of land before you can have a second full size dwelling.

Boundary Adjusting

Can I boundary adjust with my neighbour to acquire enough land for an additional dwelling? Yes.

I qualify and have over 4 hectares!

Option 1 – full size dwelling
You will need to apply for a resource consent for an additional dwelling. This costs $800 for the application fee and takes 20 working days to process. It will also incur financial contributions per additional dwelling. This house is not able to be sold separately. You must still comply with the performance standards of yard, height etc (see Rural G & H Zone).

Option 2 – minor dwelling
This option does not require you to apply for a resource consent and you will not incur financial contributions. You must comply with the performance standards of yard, height etc (see Rural G & H Zone).

Residential Properties

On a title of land that is serviced by a Council sewer system, you are permitted to have one dwelling per 350m2.

On a title of land serviced by a septic tank, you are permitted to have one dwelling per 800m2.

These dwellings are not limited in size but must comply with the performance standards of height, yards and daylighting (see Residential Zone).

The first dwelling on the land is a permitted activity. Any further dwellings which are not a minor dwelling are termed “additional dwellings”. These require a resource consent in addition to the building consent and will incur financial contributions.

I don’t have enough land!
Your options are to consider placing a minor dwelling on your property, possibly boundary adjusting with your neighbour, or alternatively you could apply for a resource consent for a non-complying dwelling that may not be supported by Council staff. If you are in any way considering a resource consent as an option you should seek professional advice before committing further.