Concerns are growing among West Auckland homeowners who have discovered, long after moving into their new-build properties, that their front and backyards do not comply with council resource consent requirements. Many say they were unaware of any issues at the time of purchase and are now being told they must fix landscaping work that should have been completed by the developer.
Delays in Auckland Council inspections, combined with the liquidation of developer Treasure North Limited, have left residents unsure who is responsible for rectifying the non-compliant feature, including missing fences, absent trees, and concrete slabs covering live electrical cables.
The council admits its environmental monitoring team is struggling to keep up with increased demand from housing intensification. It has also refused to disclose how many sold homes with unclosed consents are caught in the backlog, citing the need for “substantial collation” of information.
Homeowners Say Key Details Were Never Disclosed
On Purapura Lane in Kumeu, ten townhouses fall short of the original resource consent requirements. Four affected families told RNZ that neither their lawyers nor their real estate agents warned them about the abatement notice issued in 2023, nor about the unclosed consent. Some were even told they were free to design their outdoor areas as they wished.
Christine O’Conner, who moved into her home in early 2024, said she was taken aback when the council recently informed her that her deck dimensions were incorrect and that the concrete in front of her house had to be replaced with soil and trees.
"There's live cables under a slab that the environmental monitoring unit are telling us to rip up," she said, RNZ quoted.
She said the council initially backtracked on the requirement, then reinstated it days later.
"I'm a single mum, I don't have the funds to go up against a real estate agent, a liquidated developer or a lawyer, like to me it's just in the too hard basket, I just want to get something resolved with the council," she said.
O’Conner said she bought her home believing it was complete, and questioned why the law allows sales to proceed when abatement notices are still active.
As quoted by RNZ, "Why should a developer sell a property when there's an abatement notice, they shouldn't be allowed to do that , how's that fair for people that are purchasing a property, how do we know there's issues with the developer, it's absolutely disgusting, this country needs to… there needs to be something sorted," she said.
Following RNZ’s enquiries, she received another email stating she and her neighbours no longer needed to remove the concrete.
Young Couple Unable to Afford Compliance Costs
O’Connor’s neighbour, Dhruval Gosai, said the cost of meeting the original consent conditions would exceed $10,000 — money she and her partner do not have.
"We are a young couple, who are hardly earning anything, and we are just paying our mortgages… there's no way we can pay," she said, RNZ quoted.
She said council officers warned that further queries would incur charges.
"Councils and environmental officers are being paid for what they're doing - they just need to do their jobs, this need to be paid by council not customers," she said, quoted RNZ.
Frustrated by her experience, she added:
"I think New Zealand is not even a developing country, that's what I feel now by Auckland Council.
"I'm basically from India, so India is one of the developing countries… but Auckland Council is shit," she said, RNZ quoted.
Auckland Council Acknowledges Delays
Environmental monitoring manager Robert Laulala said the council understood the homeowners’ frustration but was limited by staffing constraints and the tools provided under current legislation.
"Our priority is ensuring compliance and protecting the environment, but current legislation limits the tools available to us,
"We continue to use every option within the law and advocate for stronger enforcement powers to hold developers accountable,” RNZ quoted.
He said the Kumeu developer never notified the council that work was complete, the step that triggers the final inspection. Without that notification, inspections can take months, and in some cases, years.
The council declined RNZ’s OIA request for data on the number of homes waiting over a year for sign-off, again citing substantial collation.
"Developers hold the responsibility for closing out resource consents, so the council does not track this process, and is not required to," Laulala said, R Z quoted.
Calls for Legislative Fixes
Northwest Auckland MP Chris Penk said unclosed resource consents have long been a problem and urged the council to adopt a pragmatic approach with affected homeowners.
"If there are ways they can find to be pragmatic… then that will give people breathing space until we can sort out this whole area," he said, quoted RNZ.
Resource Management Minister Chris Bishop declined to comment on the individual cases but said upcoming changes to replace the RMA would include a stronger focus on compliance and enforcement.
ISSUE
Leave a Comment