New Auckland Council Rules Are Killing Housing Supply

[@LeslieWalters-n9t]

Rain water can be caught on the roof and drained into tanks. This has been done for many years here in New Zealand. Filtration and water purifying systems are easily accessible now as are mains and battery pumps. A development would need to allow room for the tanks on the property. More room would need to be set aside for grey water to be treated naturally on the property. Toilets could be of the incinerating type so no water nor drainage is necessary. After the initial cost, the rates should be lower as the builds are not using council infrastructure

[@wilmaterna4667]

haha yeah right, rates lower lol

[@royboy3048]

You are right about solutions but the council will want you too pay for just thinking about it they are not working for us they are in it for them self's.

[@colinsmith2005]

My ex wife’s home was flooded twice in recent years, hundreds of houses were built up stream of her property without regard for storm water run off into her meandering stream, which became a raging river during two storms in recent years almost killing her in the first and myself in the second as I had headed to her home during the second storm as she was out of town. I rescued some of her possessions by raising items of value but shortly after arriving water began flowing around my feet taking me by surprise, almost washing myself and several neighbours away and submersing my vehicle which was in the driveway. All house recently built upstream in recent years should have been demolished returning the land to rural though she settled for an average buy out offered by Auckland council. Someone responsible for the excess development owe me a vehicle and compensation for the ptsd I suffered post this event, if I hold the mayors head underwater for a few minutes perhaps he will take into account the trauma he has caused to the West Auckland community, do you think ? Maybe I should catch up with him and find out, do you think ? I don’t think so !

[@HandSolitude]

In Japan rates are about 2% of property prices. That's how they pay for infrastructure development and maintenance. That would bring land values back to reality. Have you guys forgotten about the floods last year? There's a reason why they've done this. There's been billions of dollars of insurance claims, and council is somewhat liable for allowing development in flood risk areas. People can't even get insurance on many properties anymore. Also adding infrastructure charges to all new builds does push up all existing property values. That's part of the reason why they do it that way instead of through rates which would push property prices down.

[@llillian4055]

I don't see how this is a surprise, Auckland was originally designed for 500,000 people, it ran out of water so they made the pipeline from the Waikato river, now the city is growing fast again ... can you name the last time Auckland added major public water infrastructure? Unless the city pays for two desalinization plants, bad luck having water in a dry year.

[@AndrewSheldon]

The solution is to stop the extortion racket or corruption by giving the people the flexibility to build a septic system, or free connection if delayed.

[@cdogvlog5557]

Why don't everyone just move to Gore. Shut down that Beehive parliament building turn it into apartments and then move it to cheaper real estate.

[@peacebrother-u9f]

In Auckland developers have to put in tanks to catch rainwater collected from gutters-and then they have to waste it. Do I need to say more?

[@tonynz2024]

Bloody hell what a mess😫

[@matthewwilliamson1133]

Interesting discussion around the difference between price of new and existing builds in Aus vs NZ. I fail to see however how an increase in fixed costs for new development would de facto lead to the gap between these two types of property increasing, unless the type of new build property offered to the market changes. Ultimately prices between new and old stock are in a free market set by substitutability - the older and more run down the old stock, and the newer and flasher the new stock, the larger the gap between the two. One thing that could happen that leads to an increase in this gap, is that the increase in fixed costs leads to a tilt of the new build market towards flasher homes, as a $90k dev contribution is a much larger chunk of your costs on a $750k townhouse than it is a $2m manor. If this happens you would then see this gap increase. Government/Central bank intervention can of course also add distortion here, policies that attempt to push buyers towards new stock will increase the size of this gap.

[@dorankim9654]

Does that mean property like at Manurewa with land is better than before?

[@switzerland3696]

This is an example of what is wrong with society, nothing but greed.,

[@adsdft585]

They are talking about a business opportunity for a private company to open sewage processing plant and charge people.

[@MM-vo5xn]

1) so will developers have to start building their own septic sewage systems for their new houses? 2) private sewage systems are expensive to install and maintain in the long run 3) it seems as if there needs to be better strategy alignment between Watercare and Council so the development via both entities is aligned (side note: it seems AT could be experiencing something like this too since a lot of new builds have limited or no parking and the residential streets are filling up with parked cars) 4) this seems like a good reason for Watercare to undergo a review to find out if it should be brought back into council (doesnt the mayor want all CCOs brought back into council - except Watercare. Seems Watercare needs to be reviewed like the other CCOs) 5) if we see a trend of developers installing their own sewage systems, does it become a disadvantage for the future prospects of a house? 🤔

[@shaunperry811]

I work in the wastewater industry, I can tell you that you are wrong . Decentralised WWTPs are not expensive in comparison to what developers have to pay to tap into reticulation networks. There is a development in South Auckland that has a new water and wastewater plant that cost less than a quarter of what Watercare were demanding to be paid. The Development now charge the same as Watercare to use these plants and Watercare are suggesting that they actually take over the ownership and operations of the plant.

[@MM-vo5xn]

@shaunperry811 I knew someone who had a private septic tank system for their own house, and had to pay about 70k to get it redone. These are likely of much smaller scale compared to entire wastewater treatment plants you're referring to. But what you said is very interesting. I wonder if Watercare can make them hand over the WWTP. And i wonder who decides how much they can charge the residents etc. Might be some better times ahead for you and the WW industry mate 👍🏽

[@shaunperry811]

@@MM-vo5xn Sounds like your mate got scammed. A residential septic system costs between $5-40k depending on the technology you choose for a 3-4 bedroom home. Watercare cant force them to hand it over but the developers I mentioned aren't in the business of running a plant so its in their best interest to handover.

[@sehejjuneja9714]

@@shaunperry811what residential septic system are you talking about specifically?

[@adsdft585]

We see is that historical councils! Of Manukau, Waitamata, and North Shore did not build for future and so Auckland City is catching up over the last 30 years may be!

[@CreedenceClearHoarder]

A capital gains tax 20 years ago would have helped this. Perish the thought the politicians yelled!

[@brianwilson4592]

The title is misleading. It is not Council’s rules that are limiting development, it is the capacity of infrastructure. To change that is going to take a number of years that is not limited necessarily by money but the resources to put upgraded pipe system. If developers have been caught out then they haven’t been taking notice of an issue that has been progressively developing over a number of years.

[@walkerproperty]

Council are responsible for infrastructure. Infrastructure issue = Council issue. I don't believe it's fair to say developers haven't been taking notice. There was no forewarning by Watercare whatsoever. The prudent thing for Watercare to do would've been to progressively update the public as their services were nearing capacity, so developers were aware of the risks before outlaying significant amounts of capital on acquiring new sites. Instead, they stayed quiet on the issue and then dropped the news, seemingly overnight, like a bombshell. The video talks about Development Contributions increasing significantly. That process is publicly notified for 6-12 months, with the public invited to submit feedback long before the new policies take place. Even though the public feedback gets largely overlooked, at least it gives developers forewarning, and an opportunity to price in the additional cost/risk before acquiring new sites. For public servants to withhold information and then dump it on the private sector with the expectation that the private sector will simply bow down and suck up the losses (to the tune of hundreds of thousands, if not millions) - is plain wrong. There's no two ways about it. Developers are perceived as either wealthy, greedy, or risk takers - and for whatever reason, that seems fair justification to Watercare to pass on whatever cost/risk they like without adhering to their own responsibilities to communicate. Most certainly agree that the change is going to take years and is limited by resources and finances. Developers are being told to expect to landbank their sites for 10+ years until the issue is resolved. What's not discussed in this video is the fact that Auckland Council/Watercare's move sets a dangerous precedent for other Councils to follow suit.

[@karlsamuels-richmond1770]

Does that mean properties in rural areas in Auckland like Helensville will potentially increase in price, because you'll be able to develop and connect to town supply without the added contribution costs.

[@berniemckinley4988]

Thank you guys good to know

[@ivebronz]

Wow, three waters wasn’t so bad after all!

[@thatdave86]

Bring back the Poop cart man ! Even if they go with septic systems they'll fail because of land runoff issues and density building wont leave any land . Electric fire loos? Oh how so much thought and planning has Not gone into City planning , capacity should have been concidered when any work was done on sewer uogrades and water supply to all the existing subdivisions,but as usual the bare minimum is applied . In some ways developer contributions should be higher to allow growth builds ,which usually happen naturally.

[@siaosi2004]

no wonder my neighbor is building 4 houses next door and have or trying to zone my section to be part of theirs as i have the main water and drainage on my side i have a deaf dog and there is and opening on my side easy access for my dog to get through wow waimate street otara

[@randomas8634]

Auckland isn't the only council limiting developments because of water infrastructure.

[@lezking980]

Maybe Copy Dubai....hundreds of Trucks fill up Sewage every morning and Truck it to Sewage Plants.....??

[@saregama-r8td]

Why can't this country get anything right?

[@CaptainKuki]

It’s bringing Auckland up to a manageable point.

[@davey6907]

Id like to think its delayed as opposed to never. Watercare playing brinkmanship

[@TheFalconerNZ]

Auckland is overpopulated & water short for decades. Remember the waterline from the Waikato river to Auckland that was for limited use during times of water shortage that is now in use everyday & Auckland is constantly getting authorisation to keep increasing that water drain which will affect the downstream river conditions. When will Auckland stop increasing the water take from the Waikato river, when there is no water left to draw? 30 June 2021, Around one third of New Zealand's population (34 per cent) lives in Auckland which is not good for 2 reasons, it concentrates the economy in one area & susceptible to natural disasters & 2 as said here - there is no water to supply more population there.

[@mariaross2099]

There are a lot of cities bigger than Auckland ,a lot of apartments are going up around the world sick to death of you picking on Auckland

[@TheFalconerNZ]

@@mariaross2099 How many of the other cities contain 35% of that countries population? That is the issue, all that wealth & work centered in one place.

[@mrokesene]

It will become more expensive in Auckland and will push more of the market towards Waikato and Northland.

[@wilmaterna4667]

im sure its already set up for all the developers and investors, basically rich making sure they get richer

[@llillian4055]

"We didn't have this additional hoop to jump though" ... sorry, turning farms into suburbs ALWAYS meant you needed massive (and expensive) new water and sewage infrastructure. It is simply stunning that investors somehow thought that the Government would pick up the tab for that. Personally, farms should be farms, and Auckland should stop sprawling over all the useful farmland that is left. Making money building homes that are miles from where people actually have a job is just not sustainable long term; unless you have a railway, water, and sewage for a town sized suburb, you really shouldn't be building in a location. And Auckland has frankly rubbish trains still, the rail link to the airport was planned in the 1960s and still does not exist.

[@Jules-C]

Interesting pod guys, do you have a link to the watercare map you covered?

[@opes_partners]

watercare.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=3944a60cbf864b9494087cd39094e114

[@robertmiller2173]

Move to Christchurch; I lived in Auckland for 9 years and Water was a big issue right back to the 1990’s. I had a 1/4 Acre Section in Pakuranga, so I had a big Garden……anyway as everybody knows it rains a lot in Auckland…..like it averages 1,200 mm of rain a year. However in about 1993-5, I can’t recall the year exactly……but we had a massive drought, so we suddenly got Christchurch’s average rainfall of 600mm. ……………So I watered my garden. And then I got a $1,200 Water Bill in 1993-5, that was a horrible! Now I live in Christchurch, where we have 600mm of rain on average and great water supply, although we do have a water meter, the council hasn’t decided to tax our water yet! The Southern Alps provide so much water, much of it is in under the ground.! I’m going to the big A for New Year!

[@dossnone4554]

Come west, build in flood zones.

[@dossnone4554]

Very difficult for you to raise much sympathy for developers. Less development means we only have to live with the existing nightmares on our roads.

[@dave24-73]

NZ has way too many people in Auckland, it is about time new areas were developed with incentives to get people out of Auckland. Auckland has been over developed in essence destroying it. There was a time every section use to have a lawn and garden, now many are based on concrete with no drainage, and then we wonder why the infrastructure fails. We also need to stop bringing people into NZ until these issues are addressed.

[@mariaross2099]

There are way to many people in a lot of big cities around the world ,all the immigrants can go to wellington an christchurch where every Thing is so fantastic

[@mariaross2099]

There are apartments in lot of cities ,like London and New York maybe get immigrants to go t o wellington and christchurch,they are so perfect

[@davidthomson692]

Don’t worry, there’s plenty of room at the end of the motorway , Kaipara

[@zinny01]

It’s hardly blindsiding. The last government explained that our water infrastructure was in need of investment and that it needed urgent reform. Your crocodile tears are dripping on your Gucci loafers.

[@TimVanderpijl]

Why would anyone build or live in Auckland with 50 volcanoes, 3 of there are sleeping about to wake up... Like Christchurch built on a riverbed. If you change the 1st letter in Auckland with a F , you will get it. 😊

[@marinclay2405]

The guy on the left is hard to understand. Slow down a little .

[@isstechnz1021]

A1 information thanks 👍