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Infrastructure issues and insights affecting property developers.
WHO PAYS FOR THE NEW PIPES TO HOUSES THAT NEVER GET BUILT?
Ratepayers do. Auckland house prices are down about a quarter since 2021. Growth charges have more than doubled in places. Who do you think funds that gap? No one, because the homes don’t get built.
THERE IS A LOT WRONG WITH VECTOR
A Post columnist asked this morning whether it is time to tackle the “cushiest pork barrel” in New Zealand politics: bringing Vector back into Auckland Council ownership. A cash cow? Not under the…
WHO IS SANZ? WE CHECK THE NUMBERS
A number that does not look right sends us back to the source document every time. That is what SANZ does with development contributions, connection charges and the rest of it.
ABOUT $3.5 BILLION OF VECTOR’S $10 BILLION INVESTMENT IS NOT PAID FOR BY VECTOR
SANZ lodged a complaint with the New Zealand Herald this morning about an article published on 20 August. The Herald reported that Vector is investing $10 billion in Auckland’s electricity network.
WHAT COSTS GO INTO AN AFFORDABLE 3 BEDROOM HOME IN AUCKLAND
This video walks through the numbers on one real infill site: four three-bedroom houses built on a $600,000 section in an established Auckland suburb.
SMALL HOMES SUBSIDISE LARGE HOMES FOR WATER CONNECTIONS
Auckland’s housing stock has flipped since 2013. Standalone homes on their own section used to make up about 70 per cent of new supply. Now around 70 per cent of new homes are small attached or…
AFFORDABLE HOMES COULD BECOME POWERLESS: THE LOSS OF LOW USER DAILY CHARGES
First published on LinkedIn, 13 December 2024. Fixed price charges will soon negate any savings made on electricity use. We are being pushed to save on power costs.
VECTOR SAYS A TYPICAL NEW CONNECTION AVERAGES $8,000. MY REVERSE MATHS SAYS $14,028.
Vector told the Herald a typical new connection averages $8,000. My reverse mathematics on Vector’s 2026 annual report comes to $14,028. $182.6 million collected from new connections. Divided by…
$623,000 FOR 30 CENTIMETRES.
This is a story about a developer group who did not know enough about working close to power lines. Once they found out, they set about getting the right consents.
KAITIAKITANGA BELONGS TO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TOO
Kaitiakitanga belongs to more than forests and speeches. It belongs to our infrastructure too: our duty to hold it in trust for those who follow.
THE ONLY SOLUTION WAS TO UNDERGROUND THE WIRES, UNTIL THEY HAD TO PAY!
A family who lost their home, with no insurance, had one way to recover: developing the land. Their engineering assessment found the site did not comply. The overhead line’s clearance came in under 5…
SANZ LAUNCHES A NEW WEBSITE: A DATABASE OF INFRASTRUCTURE COST STORIES
SANZ has a new website. It includes a database of stories, showing the extraordinary costs some people are paying to build a new home.
VECTOR, CLOSE APPROACH AND SAFETY AROUND OVERHEAD POWER LINES
Work near power lines, overhead or underground, is dangerous. Work close to them is regulated for exactly that reason, and the code that governs it, NZECP34, is binary. You either comply or you don’t.
YOU CAN ZONE A SUBURB. YOU CANNOT ZONE DEMAND.
You can zone a suburb. You cannot zone demand. Run developers down all you like, they follow the money, and the money follows the buyers. Christchurch CBD built 484 homes. Its population grew by 50.
A FIELD DAY: THE ELECTRICITY AUTHORITY CAME OUT TO SEE DEVELOPERS IN THE TRENCHES
The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko met with a handful of Auckland developers in the trenches, with lunch alongside UDINZ. Today the regulator came out to see developers in their natural habitat…
WHAT DOES A MONOPOLY COST A HOME BUYER? ASK PAPAKURA.
An infrastructure provider that holds new build housing up drives up the cost of housing for all. Brent Melville’s piece in NBR this morning writes about what has been happening in Papakura.
WHEN THE MONOPOLY IS THE ASSESSOR AND THE ENFORCER
I am a property developer in Auckland. I also help run Subdivision Advocacy NZ, a group with around 16,000 small developers, real estate agents, suppliers, and their consultants. This article is a cas…
KAITIAKITANGA IS BEAUTIFUL. ARE WE THE LIVING CURRENT GUARDIANS? OR, DO WE TAKE THE CASH NOW?
Last week a language app named kaitiakitanga the most beautiful word in the world. Guardianship. Caring for what we have so it is still there for the ones who come after us. A fitting choice, they sai…
A WATERCARE DISCONNECTION: $11,996.07 TO CAP A WATER METER
A water meter. One of the new electronic ones, no bigger than the old brass type. It sits on private land, about 1.5 metres back from the kerb. The job was to disconnect it and cap it off. Charge to c…
VECTOR AND THE RULES WE SHOULD ALL BE FOLLOWING
I reasonably conclude that Vector does not understand the rules we should all be following. Two weeks ago I sat down with Vector in my role as co-director of SANZ to talk through the close approach co…
RAW SEWAGE ON SOMEONE’S LAWN AND A $320,000 BILL FOR THE DEVELOPER NEXT DOOR
Raw sewage on someone’s lawn and a $320,000 bill for the developer next door. Welcome to building in Auckland. Watercare is in the NZ Herald today over a $320,000 bill to a developer in Birkdale. The…
VECTOR AND SOUND BITES
Vector and Sound Bites. Again and again I read or hear that Vector say: “we pass through the costs… developers can do their own civils and TMP… they just want a subsidy”… and people who don’t know the…
Taking on Auckland's Infrastructure Monopolies
In 2024, GRA formed a not-for-profit property advocacy group, Subdivision Advocacy NZ (SANZ), with Kirsty Merriman (developer) and Simon O'Connor (town planner).
WHAT DO FALLING HOUSE PRICES ACTUALLY MEAN WHEN THE HOUSING MIX IS CHANGING?
House prices were booming from late 2020. Single homes on large sections were selling at highly elevated prices due to their development potential. There were many people using cheap money to buy larg…
🫨 🚰 INFRASTRUCTURE MADNESS: MUMS & DADS EXPECTED TO COORDINATE $1.5 M TRANSMISSION SIZED PIPELINE
This post is to show the ridiculousness of this situation in Papakura. I joined a meeting on Thursday: Small home developers in Papakura (‘Mums & Dads’ level) are being told to self-organise a maj…
🤔 BAD FORM BY VEOLIA: DELAYS IN COMMUNICATION, MAKING THOSE OVERPAYING THE MOST PAY EVEN MORE!
When is someone from watercare or aucklandcouncil or Christopher Bishop going to fix things for the battered Papakura area?? Everyone once in a while I pick up a complaint or story given to me or SANZ…
📣 🚰 ADVICE WANTED TO GET SOME DATA FROM VEOLIA IN PAPAKURA
When Auckland went REDZONE, Watercare Services Limited responded. Developers and elected council members rallied to try and help get information released so the extent of the fresh water and waste wat…
🤠 LAWLESS LAND: HOW NEW ZEALAND’S UTILITIES WILD WEST IS STRANGLING OUR ECONOMIC FUTURE 🏗️
This morning, Andrew Body’s article on Business Desk crystallised much of what is wrong with our housing and infrastructure crisis. His piece shows that we are living in an economic Wild West where mo…
🤔 IS YOUR DEVELOPMENT ELIGIBLE FOR THE SMALL DWELLING WATERCARE INFRASTRUCTURE CHARGE?
I posted this on my WhatsApp group this morning and had a stronger response than I expected — many did not know about this reduced charge. IT IS NOT WELL PUBLICISED AT ALL AND IS REALLY DIFFICULT TO F…
🏗️ DEVELOPMENT CONTRIBUTIONS UPDATE: POTENTIAL SAVINGS AVAILABLE 💰
Following the concerted efforts from many groups, Auckland Council’s development contributions policy changed on 1st June. Good news: DCs are now lower in areas like Flat Bush and Drury by around $10,…
🏗️ 👷♀️ AN EXPENSIVE TRAP_DESIGN AWAY FROM POWER LINES FROM DAY ONE
If you can’t avoid building near Vector’s power lines, you’ll need their “close approach consent”. This is a vital safety requirement… those working close need to be safe from electrocution. No one is…
🏆 PRECEDENT SET: COMMISSIONER FOUND COUNCIL’S POLICY WAS INEQUITABLE IN ITS APPROACH TO STORMWATER DEVELOPMENT CONTRIBUTIONS (FOR COMPACT DEVELOPMENTS)
After 15 months battling Auckland Council, I have won a 55% reduction in stormwater contributions for my compact homes. This sets a precedent that could save NZ new build homes collectively millions w…
⚡ 👀 🤔 SIGNIFICANT CHANGES: ELECTRICITY CONNECTIONS
The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko has been communicating key decisions and of course, I have been ‘livened-up’ with solar power and the impending installation of new smart panels. 🏆 Why has this…
THE WATERCARE FRAUD STORY RAISED INTEREST: ON ANOTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM
That is the one where a bright young engineer took advantage of his knowledge and used the systems for personal financial gain. On the good side, his family and he have stepped up to do the best to ma…
🏗️ MICHELLE’S $2.5M VECTOR VICTORY: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
For those trying to build houses in Auckland, infrastructure and utilities are a massive issue especially when trying to do brownfield / in-fill developments. These tend to be more economical housing…
CONNECTION COSTS CAN EQUAL THE LAND VALUE
🤔 Auckland’s Affordable Home Reality Check: When Connection Costs Nearly Equal the Land Value 🫨 https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/06/27/nzs-infrastructure-paradox-when-spending-more-delivers-less/ Inspire…
VECTOR AGAIN: A PIECE FROM GARTH BRAY (BD)
🔌💡 Here’s another piece from Garth Bray… Vector again! https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/property/developer-shocked-by-72000-vector-quote-on-work-completed-for-a-box-of-beers 🍺 Vector quoted $72,0…
SANZ and GRA housing advocates pushed back, and Council backed down
I, along with Kirsty Merriman (developer), Simon O'Connor from Sentinel Planning, and the team at SANZ pushed back — and Council backed down.
Council's 'Broken' Growth Projects System Forces Aucklanders to Pay 2055 Prices in 2025
Projects that would cost $30 million today are inflated to $250 million 30 years later and Aucklanders are being asked to pay 2055 prices in 2025.
Development Contributions Increases
Development contributions are proposed to increase in Auckland to frankly non-viable levels.
The Auckland infrastructure problem
The Auckland infrastructure problem: I have noticed many of our property developer clients complaining about the way charges and contributions are being handled.