Check if you can subdivide your property

When subdivision of property is allowed

Factors that may influence whether your subdivision would be allowed, include:

• the size of your property
• the zone your property is in (different zones have different minimum areas for new subdivided lots)
  whether there are existing dwellings on the land or if there is an existing land use consent for more dwellings
• whether the ground is stable or prone to hazards (e.g. flooding, erosion or contamination)
  if there are any restrictions on existing titles
• whether new stormwater or wastewater drainage is necessary or if existing pipes may need to be upgraded
• vehicle access, parking and manoeuvring.

Where to start

The Auckland Unitary Plan has rules you need to consider if you want to divide your property into separate legal titles.

To check if you can subdivide your property, start by finding out the zone for your property.

We can give you some general information about subdivision if your property is zoned:

• Subdividing in a single house zone
• Subdividing in a mixed housing urban zone
• Subdividing in a mixed housing suburban zone
• Subdividing in a terrace housing and apartment buildings zone

​Types of property subdivision

There are three common types of titles:

1. Fee simple – the most common form of subdivision. It divides an existing property into two or more sections
2. Unit title – this gives individual titles to housing units over an existing piece of land. The housing units have a body corporate and the units usually share in the common property such as driveways, gardens, etc.
3. Cross-lease – previously common, less desirable today. A lease is created over each unit, which is called a "flat". Each flat owner has shared ownership of the property.

What you need to consider

Your subdivision resource consent application will be subject to extra steps, compared to other resource consent applications.

Get an idea of overall costs

The subdivision of one residential property into two lots can vary significantly in cost due to a range of factors, in particular infrastructure issues.

Generally, the average two-lot subdivision can cost around $120,000 – $150,000 for an approved consent, a new Record of Title, professional fees and other requirements.

These costs will likely include:

• consent processing costs
• development contribution fees
• infrastructure connections (water, power, communication etc.)
• driveways and access
• professional fees (surveyors, planners, lawyers, engineers etc.)
• Land Information New Zealand fees.

Engage a licensed surveyor

Engage a surveyor to get an idea of overall costs, how long the whole subdivision process will take and what's involved.

Surveyors can help with:

• drafting a subdivision design for your property
• Auckland Unitary Plan rules
• site specific zoning
• clarifying the need for stormwater, wastewater, sewer connections
• identifying power, water, phone connections
• vehicle access
• providing a detailed breakdown of all subdivision costs associated with subdividing your section from the design, consent and development stages through to the issuing of new titles.

How you will use your subdivided property

Before starting, you should consider whether you intend to:

• subdivide the land (only) to sell
• build a new house on the subdivided land to sell
• build an additional house on the subdivided land for family use, or as an investment
• subdivide a piece of land where houses already exist, or a land use consent has been granted enabling new houses to be built.

Depending on your intentions, in addition to a subdivision consent you may need additional land use resource consents and building consents before you can start your building work.

Accessways and services in your subdivided property

New sites created by subdivision will need to be serviced to make sure:

• there is suitable vehicle access
• wastewater and stormwater can be adequately managed
• water, telecommunications and power connections can be created.

You should include the costs of installing this infrastructure into your calculations.

Before construction can begin, you may need to apply for engineering approvals.

Development contributions

It is also likely that you will need to pay development contribution fees to us.

Use the development contribution fee estimator to calculate a rough estimate of the development contribution fees that will apply to your subdivision.