Subdivision consent

What this application is

Section 11 of the Resource Management Act 1991 says land may be subdivided only if the subdivision is first expressly allowed by a national environmental standard, by a rule in the district plan as well as any proposed district plan, or by a resource consent (from 30 October 2026, a rule in an initial national standard can also allow it), and second is shown on a survey plan deposited by the Registrar-General of Land or approved by the Chief Surveyor. The section lists some exceptions, such as certain transfers under the Public Works Act 1981.^[6][7]

Section 218 defines subdividing land. It includes, for example, applying for a separate record of title for part of a lot, selling part of a lot, leasing part of a lot for more than 35 years including renewals, granting a cross lease or company lease, and depositing a unit plan.^[8]

Auckland Council says a subdivision consent is needed to divide a parcel of land or a building into further parcels, or to change an existing boundary, for example to create separately owned lots, adjust a boundary or convert a cross-lease into a freehold title. Wellington City Council also says a boundary adjustment between neighbouring properties goes through the subdivision process.^[1][2]

A subdivision consent application in a council's list shows that an application was lodged, not that consent was granted or that new titles exist. Some applications ask for land use and subdivision consent together, and NearBuild counts these combined applications as subdivision consents. Auckland Council notes that, depending on what the owner wants to do, land use resource consents and building consents may be needed as well as a subdivision consent.^[9][10][11]

After consent is granted, a survey plan goes to the council for approval under section 223. The council must approve or decline it within 10 working days, and approves it if it is satisfied the plan conforms with the subdivision consent, subject to some other sections of the Act. Under section 224, the survey plan cannot be deposited unless, among other things, the council certifies that it approved the plan and that the consent conditions have been met or are covered by a completion certificate, consent notice or bond, and less than 3 years have passed since the section 223 approval.^[12][13]

What neighbours can do

Auckland Council publishes a weekly list of resource consent applications lodged in the last 26 weeks, and its Regional Planning Helpdesk can give details about specific applications. Wellington City Council says resource consent applications are public information and anyone can ask it for a copy of a recent consent.^[9][14]

An applicant may ask a neighbour for written approval. Wellington City Council says a neighbour does not have to give approval or a reason for refusing. Both councils say they accept only unconditional approval, and that once a person gives written approval the council does not take the effects on that person into account. Auckland Council says this applies both when it decides whether to notify the application and when it decides whether to grant it, and that a person who gave approval cannot appeal the decision once the consent is granted.^[15][16]

Auckland Council says a person can change their mind until a decision is made on the application, even after giving written approval, and should confirm a withdrawal in writing as soon as possible because the council may need to notify the application. Wellington City Council says written approval can be withdrawn at any time before the consent is granted.^[15][16]

Wellington City Council lets people register as an interested neighbour for a property and says it will email or write to them if it receives a resource consent application for that property. It says formal feedback is possible only if the application is publicly notified or the person is identified as an affected party.^[17]

Submissions can be made only on notified applications. If an application is publicly notified, anyone may make a submission; if it has limited notification, only people served with notice of it may, with some limits set out elsewhere in the Act. A submission can support or oppose the application, or be neutral. Under section 120, apart from the applicant (and, for some coastal permits, the Minister of Conservation), only people who made a submission can appeal the decision to the Environment Court.^[18][19][20]

Auckland Council says public notices of notified applications appear in newspapers and, for some parts of the region, on its resource consent public notices page. Wellington City Council says it advertises publicly notified consents on its website and that its public notices list consents open for submissions.^{[21][22][23][20]}

Notification

Auckland Council says it processes almost all resource consent applications without notifying the public. Wellington City Council says an application that may affect neighbours, the wider community or the environment may need to be processed as a notified consent.^[21][23]

Under section 95A of the Resource Management Act 1991, the council must publicly notify an application if the applicant asks for it, and in a few other set cases, such as when the applicant does not provide further information the council has asked for. Otherwise, unless public notification is precluded (for example by a rule or national environmental standard, or because the application is only for controlled activities or boundary activities), the council must publicly notify an application when a rule or national environmental standard requires it, or when it decides the activity will have, or is likely to have, adverse effects on the environment that are more than minor. For applications lodged before 30 October 2026, it also publicly notifies an application when it decides special circumstances warrant it. The Planning Act 2026 repealed that step for applications lodged from that date.^{[24][25][23][7][3]}

When deciding whether adverse effects are more than minor for public notification, section 95D says the council must disregard, among other things, effects on the owners and occupiers of the site and of adjacent land, and effects on anyone who has given written approval. Effects on particular people are considered when the council decides on limited notification.^[26][27]

If an application is not publicly notified, section 95B requires the council to decide whether to give limited notification. It must notify certain groups, such as affected protected customary rights groups, and, unless limited notification is precluded, each person it decides is an affected person. Under section 95E, a person is affected if the activity's adverse effects on them are minor or more than minor, but not less than minor. A person is not affected if they gave written approval and did not withdraw it before the council decided who is affected, or if the council is satisfied it is unreasonable in the circumstances for the applicant to seek their approval. Limited notification is precluded in some cases, for example when the application is only for a controlled activity under a district plan, other than a subdivision. The council may also notify other people if special circumstances warrant it.^{[27][28][21][23]}

Submissions close on the 20th working day after the application is publicly notified or given limited notification. For limited notification, the council may close submissions earlier once every affected person has made a submission, given written approval or said in writing that they will not make a submission.^[29][21][23]

In Auckland

Auckland Council describes the steps after a subdivision consent is granted: a more detailed survey plan is submitted for a section 223 certificate, works required by the conditions such as services and driveways are carried out, a section 224(c) certificate is applied for with evidence of how each condition was met, and the plan and certificates are lodged with Land Information New Zealand, which issues the new records of title.^[1][30]

Auckland Council says a section 224(c) certificate confirms that the survey plan has been approved under section 223 and that all subdivision conditions have been met, and that it is needed to request a record of title from Land Information New Zealand.^[30]

In Wellington City

Wellington City Council describes the process as concept and planning, a resource consent application, construction, address allocation, a cadastral survey lodged with Land Information New Zealand, and council certification that the consent conditions are met so that new records of title can be issued. It says the conditions must be completed before it issues the final certification.^[2]

Read the council's own guidance

• Apply for a subdivision resource consent, Auckland Council
• Apply for section 224c certificate (subdivision), Auckland Council
• Subdivide property, Wellington City Council
• Notified resource consents, Auckland Council
• Notified resource consents, Wellington City Council
• Resource Management Act 1991, section 11: Restrictions on subdivision of land, New Zealand Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel Office)
• Resource Management Act 1991, section 223: Approval of survey plan by territorial authority, New Zealand Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel Office)
• Resource Management Act 1991, section 224: Restrictions upon deposit of survey plan, New Zealand Legislation (Parliamentary Counsel Office)