Strict rules at upmarket community
Hobsonville Point guidelines include limits on house colour and landscaping
Hobsonville Point residents can’t paint their houses different colours, add a frontyard deck, change the landscaping, fencing or planting — or dry the washing in view of the street.
These are some of the rules in place at the upmarket waterfront community on Auckland’s northwest fringes, different from many other New Zealand suburbs where property owners are far less restricted.
The Hobsonville Point Residents’ Society said complaints “arrive frequently” about washing being hung out to dry on outside lines.
To ensure a uniform look in precincts, residents can’t change exterior colours: “Members shall ensure that unless specifically approved by the residents’ society committee, no changes are made to the exterior appearance of the property including building materials, paint colours, garage doors, fences etc.”
Plant and fence restrictions are also in force: “No member shall be entitled to undertake any house alterations or landscaping, including fencing, of their developed property”.
“Additional pavers, concrete, decking” cannot be laid in the front yard and one resident said front-yard tents and gazebos were banned.
Lighting and noise can’t annoy neighbours, external alarms mustn’t cause a nuisance, projectile fireworks can’t be discharged from properties, rules exist around rubbish, residents must keep homes well-maintained, with lawns mown and trees trimmed. Home alterations are banned.
Tents, sheds and caravans can’t be in the front yard, heat pump and gas bottle units can’t be visible from a street or pathway unless screened.
Minimal visibility rules apply to aerials and satellite dishes, temporary windows can only be there for six weeks, rubbish and recycling bins must be out of sight from the street and washing lines should not be visible from a street, right of way or pathway.
Boats and trailers, machinery and rubbish can’t be stored or parked on the front yard and broken-down vehicles are banned.
Lawyer Tim Jones said incorporated societies could most certainly enforce rules.
Under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908, entities like Hobsonville Point had the ability to take action including in court if residents breached rules, he said.
“If you painted your house pink with blue spots and you were unwilling to change it, the society could repaint it and then seek repayment,” perhaps via a court ruling for costs, Jones said.
“Such societies can discipline people by penalising them. How they do that depends on what’s in the rules of the society,” he said, citing one Newmarket example where a society owned a roadway and enforced rules on parking, speeding and banned certain vehicles like boats.
Lawyers should advise buyers of incorporated society properties about the rules at the time of purchase, Jones said.
Joanna Pidgeon, Auckland District Law Society immediate past president, said if an owner repainted incorrectly, a society could get a court order demanding a repaint or it could engage a contractor and seek money from the owner.
“With residents’ societies, there are usually encumbrances registered on titles requiring compliance with rules and requiring covenants to be signed by incoming purchasers to comply.”