Tamaki’s $119,000 New Home Tax: 25 October 2024
🚨 🚨 TAMAKI’S $119K NEW HOME TAX 🚨 🚨
My personal interpretation, do your own review.
As a developer deeply invested in Auckland’s future, I’m alarmed by Auckland Council’s 2025 PROPOSED Development Contributions Policy.
While other parts of Auckland may be explicitly red-zoned due to infrastructure constraints, Council’s proposed DC charges will effectively red-zone Tamaki through financial impossibility.
The numbers are:
• Current DC: $31,157
• Proposed DC 1 March 2025: $119,000 per unit
• A 282% increase!
Here’s what’s driving this:
Tamaki (Glen Innes & surrounds) is planned to grow and requires stormwater improvements.
The big ticket item? An $806M stormwater upgrade including replacing aging soakage systems to Greenfield level.
The problem?
Council wants TODAY’S new home buyers to pay an extra $79,000 per unit for infrastructure that won’t exist until after 2034! This isn’t just unfair – it could kill development entirely.
Why this is disastrous:
1. Generational Unfairness
Today’s new homes are being asked to pay for:
• Assets that won’t be built for decades
• Infrastructure with 50-100 year lifespans, but costs recovered over 36 years
That’s charging TODAY’S buyers for infrastructure they might not see until their children are adults!”
2. Legal Questions
The Local Government Act 2002 requires DCs to be consistent with asset lifespans and be fair & proportionate. Does charging for non-existent infrastructure meet this test with assets that should last some 80 or more years?
3. Housing Crisis Impact
These charges will make most developments financially impossible – effectively red-zoning Tamaki through the backdoor. This in an area desperately needing housing renewal.
🎯 ACTION:
Consultation is open until November 15. Please give up your evening, your Friday drinks and review the submission:
1. Make a submission via Council’s Have Your Say page
2. Share this information to raise awareness
This isn’t just about development costs – it’s about whether Tamaki gets the housing renewal it desperately needs and serious thought about where and how infrastructure is paid for.
Mayor Wayne Brown claimed in an interview with Mr Equab that Auckland has the lowest annual rates, yes, and at the expense of the new generation’s needs. They are paying the price for past poor planning and lack of timely upgrades.
It most means we all pay. No land value can take an extra burden hit of $80,000 per house – four new houses on a site means the land price comes down $320,000 and that does not account for the the other charges that hit.
Even with today’s interest rates, financing an extra $79,000 means approximately $5,000-6,000 more per year in mortgage payments for new homebuyers. That’s $100+ per week before they even turn on a tap.
When Council claims they’re enabling housing intensification while simultaneously making it financially impossible.
