Development Contributions Policy 2025

About development contributions

Development contributions are a fee we charge developers.

We use this money to help pay for new assets that are needed to support the new households or business properties that have been, or will be, developed.

These assets include activities and services like:

transport, footpaths, roads and intersections
parks, park facilities and sports grounds
drainage and stormwater systems
community facilities.

About our Development Contributions Policy

Our Development Contributions Policy sets out charges for developers under the Local Government Act 2002. It aims to make sure that the cost of new infrastructure is fairly shared between developers and ratepayers, based on who:

causes the need for the infrastructure
benefits from the infrastructure.

Without development contributions, ratepayers would have to cover all the costs of providing growth-related infrastructure.

Why we are reviewing the policy

We regularly review our contributions policy to account for updates to:

expected growth
current budgets
any relevant policy changes.

The last review was in 2022 under the Development Contributions Policy 2022 - Variation A.

Population growth

We expect Auckland's population to grow by a further 200,000 by 2034 and by another 409,000 by 2054.

Providing the infrastructure to support this growth is a key council function. It allows new developments to be built and ensures Aucklanders have access to the activities and services they expect.

What we are proposing

We are proposing a new development contributions policy to take effect from February 2025.

This proposal includes information to reflect:

spending and investment decisions over the period of the Long-term Plan 2024-2034
expected growth in population and interest rates
updates to project costs
updates to long-term (30 years) investments in the Drury Investment Priority Area.

We also propose to spend and invest in other Investment Priority Areas (IPAs) over the next 30 years, like:

Inner Northwest areas at Red Hills, Westgate and Whenuapai
the Auckland Housing Programme (AHP) areas at Tāmaki, Māngere and Mt Roskill.

Changes to our planned investments 2025-2034 including longer-term for Drury

These proposed changes will increase the average price of contributions in the draft Development Contributions Policy 2025 from $21,000 to $30,000 per household equivalent unit (HUE). This includes the capital spend reflected in the long-term plan (One HUE is the requirement for a typical residential home.)

In general, the Draft Development Contributions Policy for 2025 continues our approach to contributions set out in the current contributions policy.

Development contributions in Drury

We have assessed requirements for stormwater infrastructure in Drury and reviewed the level of investment needed in this area over the next 30 years.

As a result, the average price for development contributions in Drury will rise from $70,000 to $83,000.

Investment in IPAs

We have assessed the investment requirements for the IPAs at the Inner Northwest and the AHPs at Tāmaki, Māngere and Mt Roskill. As a result, an additional $8.9 billion of investment over 30 years in these areas will raise the average price for development contributions in:

the Inner Northwest from $25,167 to $98k
Māngere from $18,123 to $29k
Mt Roskill from $20,406 to $52k
Tāmaki from $31,157 to $119k.

What we want your feedback on

We want to know what you think of:

our proposed changes to the development contributions policy for investments we are making over the next ten years
our proposal to add projects to our IPAs beyond the LTP period (after 2034)
our proposed changes to the policy for the Drury area
our other proposed changes for the policy.

We also want to know if you have any other feedback about the proposed policy.

For more information, read the full consultation document.

How you can have your say

To have your say, you can:

complete our online feedback form below
email your completed feedback form to: contributions.policyteam@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
take your completed form to any local library with council services
post your feedback to:

Auckland Council Contributions Policy team
Freepost Number 182382
Private Bag 92300
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1142.

When you can have your say

You can have your say from Monday 30 September to Midday on Friday 15 November 2024.

What happens next

December 2024 - April 2025 (Amended dates)

Consideration of feedback on the draft Development Contributions Policy 2025 is now underway. To ensure officers are able to review and potentially address matters raised in the submissions, Auckland Council has extended the decision-making timeframe. This was to occur in February 2025 but will now take place in April 2025. This will ensure quality advice can be provided to support decision-making by the council’s Governing Body.