Fees dropped for higher density houses
A city council is removing consent fees to encourage higher density housing – saving developers upwards of $40,000.
Upper Hutt City Council’s residential stimulus policy aims to attract and encourage the development of higher density housing areas – or ‘‘comprehensive residential development’’, in the city to provide a wider range of housing options for current and future residents.
The council has committed $1.5 million to implementing the policy in its LongTerm Plan over the next three years.
Steve Taylor, council director of business transformation and insight, said while low density housing had always been in high demand in the city, it did not suit everyone.
There was increasing demand for higher density housing in the Wellington region, he said.
Although cases would vary, developments that met the minimum criteria – three dwellings on a site of 400 square metres – could save around $40,000 through the waived fees. Larger developments stood to save more.
While there would always be demand for houses on large sections, changing expectations of where and how people wanted to live meant there needed to be a greater variety of options aside from the quarter-acre type property, Taylor said.
‘‘There is growing demand around the Wellington region for housing. We need to ensure there is a range of [available dwellings]. Traditionally there hasn’t been much uptake of comprehensive residential development which is why this policy has been introduced.’’
The policy remits resource and building consent charges as well as reserve fund contributions on developments which meet the council’s criteria for higher density housing. Areas in the central business district as well as in Trentham and Wallaceville have been earmarked as suitable for higher density developments.