What are development contributions?
Under the Local Government Act 2002, the council charges infrastructure fees for the extra community and network infrastructure needed as a result of development projects. These are called development contributions. You will usually have to pay these for residential development such as new houses and apartments, non-residential development, subdivisions, and on some changes of land use.
The money collected from development contributions pays for the cost of public infrastructure that is needed to meet the additional demand from growth, including network infrastructure such as stormwater and transport, open space reserves and community facilities.
Contributions policy 2012
Collaboration with developers
Estimating your contribution
Frequently asked questions
Further enquiries
Contributions policy 2012
A new contributions policy came into effect from 1 July 2012 which is available below.
The policy was adopted as part of Auckland Council's Long-term Plan 2012-2022 (Volume Three: Financial information, policies and fees), which will remain in effect until 30 June 2015. The policy will be reviewed annually and may be amended earlier using the special consultative procedure.
A PDF version has been included if you wish to download a copy:
Chapter 9: Contributions policy (PDF version, 1.4mb)
Collaboration with developers
The council intends to work together with developers to identify solutions to issues and look at better ways of working.
A stakeholder workshop session was held on Friday 24 August 2012 at the Central Library. The aim of this session was to obtain views on the adopted contributions policy and to hear examples from those who have used the new policy or received an assessment as to what has worked well or less well.
Feedback from this session will be made available on this website and used to determine the level and areas of work necessary over the next twelve months to refine the policy.
Estimating your contribution
If you're thinking of sub-dividing or developing a property, our Development Contributions Estimator can give you an indication of contribution charges that may apply.
The estimate will be based on information available at the feasibility stage of your development, and is purely for your convenience. No information from your estimate is retained by Auckland Council.
Please note the estimator may not work properly on some older browsers.
Frequently asked questions
The information you need is different for residential and non-residential development. Whether the site is residential or non-residential you will need to know what is on the allotment(s) to start with:
Residential
Building a house or a minor unit? All you need is the number of units. For other residential development, such as low, medium or high rise, you will also need to know the impervious surface area of the development, and for aged care, the number of rooms.
Non-residential
For non-residential development, you will need to know the impervious surface area and gross development area of the development.
Read the Auckland Council development contributions policy for definitions of these terms.
Water supply and wastewater services are not included in the estimate provided. These charges are easily obtainable by contacting the relevant water service provider.
Veolia Water - Papakura area
Watercare Services Limited - rest of Auckland
Each consent received by Auckland Council is assessed for development contributions. If you have paid units of demand on a prior consent, council will not require you to pay for the same units of demand again.
Further enquiries
For more information call one of our area offices:
| Northern |
09 486 8413 |
| Central |
09 353 9025 |
| Western |
09 839 3575 |
| Southern |
09 261 4892 |
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