Retirement blocks – they’re dying fast

Your land surveyed
with Brent Trail
Surveying Services Ltd

I remember a time when it was relatively easy to subdivide yourself a small block off your farm to build that dream home and ‘stay on the land’. Those days are gone!

This is something that elected councillors, over the years, have recognised and District Plans once allowed for. But the Resource Management Act and subsequent legislation has all but completely scuttled this opportunity now.

These days it can be a real challenge for landowners to stay on the land. Often, they are selling out to a family member but need to hang around for continuity of management and even labour. However, they may have a life beyond the family and farm and, therefore, need the ownership of a property that can provide them independence and security.

Unless they have planned well ahead, this can pose a real challenge. The rules relating to subdividing a small retirement or lifestyle block off your farm are very quickly tightening up, or in fact disappearing. Those that plan ahead will definitely benefit here.

Many farms are made up of multiple titles. This is the result of either accumulation of land over many years, as adjoining blocks have come on the market, or a savvy owner taking advantage of the subdivision rules over the years whilst they have been accommodating. If you have done this, then well done. You can possibly adjust these boundaries now to create your ideal smaller block. If you don’t have those extra titles there may still be some opportunities depending on your locality. But I wouldn’t advise waiting as it will never be easier than today – it will get worse fast, as already seen in many areas we work in.

Some opportunities still exist in the Waikato, Matamata-Piako, Hauraki foothills, Waipa, Thames-Coromandel, South Waikato, Otorohanga and Waitomo. Outside these areas, like the Western Bay of Plenty and Whakatane, the creation of lifestyle blocks relies on specific zoning or the ability to protect ecological features such as wetland, bush and stream margins in the rural zones.

So, if as I suspect, you do want to retire sometime, there is some planning to do. It is essential to look closely at the overall farm and consider your options for the future, particularly if you want to hang around for a while. But equally, you may want to lock in future options for the family. If you don’t start something soon the opportunity may well disappear. Please feel free to give me a call and discuss your situation. We’ll see how we can ‘help you make the most of your land’.

Brent Trail, managing director of Surveying Services, specialises in resource consent applications for subdivisions across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. For further information call 0800 268 632 or email: btrail@surveyingservices.co.nz

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