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The proposed Building Act does not adequately address building safety risks, including site-specific risks such as natural hazards and infrastructure needs.
There are also existing processes in the Act that landowners can use to “fast track” consent.
The government has proposed a National Environmental Standard, a document under the RMA, which states that “small residential units” are a permitted activity, meaning they no longer require resource consent.
The apartments would need to meet “permitting standards” such as maximum building coverage and minimum permeable surface requirements, which are necessary to manage stormwater runoff and flooding risks.
The discussion document includes a range of options for required setbacks – the amount of space between an apartment and the boundary. One option would be to require no minimum setback, maximising the space people could potentially build homes in.
Smith said RMA proposals should be limited to homes in residential areas because most sites in rural areas are not suitable for the buildings due to natural hazards, reverse sensitivity or infrastructure needs.
Most existing zoning plans (including the Thames Coromandel Zoning Plan) already allow for small secondary dwellings to be built within residential areas, so it would not be difficult for landowners to build these dwellings.
The notified proposal to build a 60 square metre secondary dwelling will incur costs to the local authority which will need to be borne by the taxpayer and may also result in landowners incurring costs for rework which they were not aware of or had not budgeted for.
In its submission, council staff suggested it partially disagreed with the definition of the issue because the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment did not provide evidence to support the issue and the undersupply of 60 square metre secondary dwellings was not considered a key issue in the housing market.
The council opposed the creation of a new schedule to the Building Act to provide exemptions for simple detached dwellings up to 60 square metres, but recommended a fast-track consent scheme.
It does not see housing affordability as a problem but rather a symptom of a dysfunctional housing market.
On the Thames, despite the poor quality of most existing housing stock, values continue to rise due to a lack of supply. The key flaw in the market is therefore overall undersupply.
“There is no evidence in the discussion paper that there is currently an unmet demand for 60 square metre secondary homes; the problem definition appears to presuppose that a lack of 60 square metre secondary homes is the primary concern in order to justify the government’s proposals and provide a superficial housing policy ‘quick win’.”
Landowners can save only a few thousand dollars and months of time, depending on the quality and completeness of their building permit applications.
The small cost and time savings do not compensate for the increased risk of substandard construction and the health and safety impacts on people living in a 60 square meter secondary home.
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