Introduction to development contributions
Who pays?
Types of development contributions
Exceptions
Payment of development contributions
Contact
Introduction to development contributions
Manukau is the fastest growing city in New Zealand. Last year the population grew by 8,600 with about 3,000 new homes and hundreds of new commercial building projects completed.
With growth comes a great deal of opportunity, but it also brings increased costs to manage that growth. The council's new 
Development Contributions Policy (allowed for under the Local Government Act 2002) provides a way of recovering some of the costs of growth from those who create new development within the city. The money collected from development contributions will be used to pay for:
- New arterial roads
- Improvements to town centres
- Building new community facilities, such as libraries and swimming pools.
The policy was adopted by the Council in September 2004, following extensive consultation with developers, the Property Council, property consultants and the community.
Who pays?
Development contributions will be charged to owners or developers who:
- Subdivide or cross-lease their sections
- Build a self-contained unit on their property. (A self-contained unit is a dwelling where a person or group of people can live. It usually includes a bathroom and kitchen)
- Build new commercial, retail or industrial buildings
- Expand an existing office or factory
- Change the use of a property from commercial to residential.
- People making changes to their existing homes - for example developing a basement, adding a room or building a deck or swimming pool - will not be required to pay development contributions.
back to top
Types of development contributions
Residential
People building new residential developments will be charged a levy calculated on what is called the 'unit of demand', or 'household equivalent' measure. The levy is $5,956 plus GST per household equivalent measure.
This means that you will be expected to pay a levy of $5,956 plus GST if you:
- Change a building's use from commercial to residential
- Build a new residential house, apartment, or self-contained unit
- Subdivide or cross-lease a property
- If the dwelling is 60 square metres or less, it qualifies as a minor househould unit. The development contribution levy for a minor household unit is 50% of the full residential levy or $2978 plus GST.
Commercial
People building commercial developments will be charged a levy calculated according to the gross floor area of the new building.
The levy has been set at $17.31 plus GST per square metre of gross floor area. Gross floor area does not include features such as canopies over loading bays, verandas over footpaths and balconies. As the final floor area isn't usually know until the building consent application stage that is the point at which the development contribution will be calculated and invoiced.
This is a new levy and is therefore an add-on to existing contribution levies and fees such as reserve contributions, consent fees and financial contributions for roading, storm water, water supply and waste water.
back to top
Exceptions
On the request of a developer or owner, a development contribution on a development may be considered for exception. There are no automatic exceptions. All exceptions will be considered by Council on a case by case basis.
An exception for all or part of the levy may be considered under the following circumstances:
- The development creates no additional demand on existing services
- The development contribution charged on a particular development is deemed by the Council to be excessive because of the scale, value or viability of the development
- The development contribution charged on a particular development is deemed by the Council to be excessive because of the impact the development has on infrastructure
- A contribution has already been paid for the same service.
The developer plans to provide infrastructure that would otherwise be funded from development contributions.
Payment of development contributions
A development contribution will only be levied once on each development. The payment of development contributions will generally be required to be made either:
- Prior to the issue of a certificate under Section 224(c) of the Resource Management Act 1991
- Prior to the issue of Code Compliance Certificate (CCC), when the owner (or agent) applies for CCC on completion of the building project in accordance with the building consent.
Development contributions in the form of money can only be paid by bank cheque, electronic transfer or cash. Payments by bank cheque or cash can be made at our service centres.
Contact
For more information please contact our call centre: 09 262 5104.
back to top