introduced by the Government in January<\/a>, allowed for unconsented granny flats, solar panels, small additions under 10sqm, boundary changes, and off-site building of granny flats.<\/p>\nGovernment says it will shave about 14 weeks off the process of putting up a new structure. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Spriggs said \u201cmore flexibility\u201d in the guidelines meant \u201cmore responsibility\u201d for sellers and buyers, with homeowners still required to comply with standards and legislation.<\/p>\n
It was also up to prospective owners to ensure the property complied, she said.<\/p>\n
The consent exemptions were aimed at increasing housing supply, reducing costs and giving homeowners more flexibility.<\/p>\n
Clarity sought on council’s position<\/p>\n
A recent request for the Mackenzie District Council to clarify its position on unconsented buildings and additions, made under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA), has drawn attention to the issue.<\/p>\n
That request, lodged in September by an anonymous prospective buyer in the Twizel market, outlined concerns about the number of properties with unconsented dwellings or additions.<\/p>\n
The buyer told the council they had \u201cseriously considered\u201d purchasing a property in the town for a number of years but found many of properties listed for sale had unconsented \u201cbuildings, facilities, and dwellings\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn several cases, the properties appear to include buildings, toilet facilities, solar panel installations, rainwater collection systems, and in some instances multiple dwellings or accommodation structures,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
The buyer, who the council did not name, said they wanted to understand what protections or processes exist for prospective buyers who are encountering these issues in the market.<\/p>\n
Hoar frost is caused by fog freezing on surfaces. (Source: Wallace Fonseca\/Pires Adventure) (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
In its response, published on its website, the council said while it conducted investigations into alleged consent breaches it did not have control over the disclosure or remedy of unconsented work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe council proactively works to identify non-compliances, and in other cases, responds to non-compliances when they are brought to our attention. Enforcement may be taken depending on the type and nature of the non-compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n
It said prospective buyers could access the district\u2019s property information via the council website to establish what consents were in place for a property.<\/p>\n
\u201cCouncil holds information on properties regarding consents which can be sourced through LIM or property file requests.\u201c<\/p>\n
Real Estate Institute of NZ responds<\/p>\n
A Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) spokesperson said agents had to disclose known building problems and other defects to buyers under the Real Estate Authority\u2019s code of conduct.<\/p>\n
Agents who became aware of a potential problem were expected to discuss it with the vendor and seek supporting information, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere a … salesperson would identify a significant potential risk of hidden or underlying defects, they must obtain evidence or expert advice supporting the vendor\u2019s confirmation that there is no defect.\u201d<\/p>\n
For consenting issues, they said the agent should make appropriate enquiries regarding the property, including through council records.<\/p>\n
Construction Minister says each party involved in a build will be responsible for the work they carried out. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
\u201cBuyers should receive relevant information about the unconsented building work before an offer is drawn up and submitted, so they can make an informed decision and seek legal or expert advice.\u201d<\/p>\n
While agents were not required to disclose known problems in marketing or at open homes, the spokesperson said the buyer should receive the information before an offer is made.<\/p>\n
The council began addressing consent issues in July, hiring a short-term accommodation compliance officer to investigate properties that were not correctly consented or were not paying the correct rates.<\/p>\n
By early September, the council confirmed they had 655 properties under investigation<\/a> for potential breaches of the district\u2019s short-term visitor accommodation rules.<\/p>\n\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New building consent exemptions are confusing homeowners and buyers, a Mackenzie councillor says. By Claire Taylor of Local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[158,42,43,135,814,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-644791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-christchurch-canterbury","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-property","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}