From 6 June 2023 homeowners building on newly subdivided and will be able to apply for a building consent only after the developer has received Council’s section 224(c) certificate (ie compliance all conditions of their subdivision resource consent).

There will be some exceptions on a case-by-case basis (eg comprehensive multi-unit developments) conditional on early engagement between the developers and the Council’s building, planning and infrastructure teams reaching agreement on specific conditions.

While you won't be able to apply for your building consent until s224(c) certificate is issued, you can still use this time to finalise their new home design and get plans and specifications underway ready to submit with Council once the s224(c) has been issued.

About section 224(c)

A s224(c) certificate is part of the subdivision consent issued by the Council. It has to be issued before Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) create a new Record of Title for the new parcel of land to allow ownership of it to then be transferred to the purchaser.

Applying for s224(c) certificate is usually managed by the developers who sell the land to new homeowners.

Owners who have bought a section that does not have s224(c) issued need to talk to the developer who will be able to inform them when they plan to apply to the Council for the section 224(c) certificate

Why s224 matters for a building consent

There is heightened concern about building on flood-prone land following the general increased frequency of severe weather and flooding events due to climate change. We are also seeing an increase in the number of subdivisions in areas affected by natural hazards

There are a number of risks to issuing a building consent before s224(c) approval, including:

  • Homeowners don’t own the land until the sale and purchase agreement is settled, which can't occur until the s224(c) is issued) and the record of title created
  • Not all subdivision information is available to enable complete design and processing (eg, finished site and floor level requirements, service locations, etc), which means:
    • we make assumptions during design and processing, and
    • amendments may be needed down the track, adding both time and cost for all parties concerned
  • An owner takes a huge risk if they start any construction work before full settlement on the land, exposing them to the possibility where they can’t get the code compliance certificate for their building because the subdivision conditions that were not known at the time of consent application are subsequently not complied with
  • Your home could potentially end up being built on flood-prone land without appropriate mitigations in place (eg higher floor-levels)
  • If your land is affected by a natural hazard at the time of issuing a building consent, then a notice is also issued indicating that the property is affected by natural hazards with this notice going onto the property’s Record of Title
  • If there is a notice placed on your record of title, this can affect your ability to secure insurance.

For information on natural hazards view our information on Building on Land Subject to Natural Hazards.