Removing consent requirements for the layout of a house, balconies and private outdoor spaces were among a suite of proposed changes announced by the government yesterday as part of its replacement of the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Otago Property Investors Association vice-president Kathryn Seque-Roche said the changes were a positive move for homeowners "to be able to do what they like with their properties".
"For people to be able to update kitchens and bathrooms and bits and pieces without having to get consent will be a massive shift."
She expected people would embrace the changes once they understood how much could be done without the consent process hindering them.
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on planning, that money could instead go towards double-glazing, a new kitchen or insulation.
For the average homeowner, there would be "a significant amount of less paperwork and less money being spent".
"At the moment, you’re meant to get building consent to insulate a wall.
"If we can get rid of those types of consenting processes, like removing a wall in a house, then that will free up a lot more time at the councils."
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said officials estimated up to 46% of consent and permit applications required under the RMA could be removed under the new system.
Based on 2023-24 volumes, 15,000-22,000 consents would no longer be needed, Mr Bishop said.
Developers the Otago Daily Times spoke to said the reforms were much needed and would make building houses easier, cheaper and faster.
Engineers and consultants added greatly to the cost of building and developing subdivisions, and much of the additional costs added "very little value" to the future homeowners.
Others said a huge amount of time and money was wasted by businesses "jumping through the never-ending hoops that the current system has created".
Former Federated Farmers Otago president Simon Davies, of Toko Mouth, said he liked as little bureaucratic red tape in his farming process as possible.
"But at the same time, there are some farmers that push the limits a little bit far at times.
"I feel that having some red tape is not necessarily a bad thing."
The RMA was "revolutionary" when it was published in 1991, but had since been tinkered and fiddled with to the point where it was now a "bureaucratic nightmare", Mr Davies said.
He welcomed the proposal of fewer requirements for lower-risk activities.
He had resource consent for winter-grazing, which in Otago was a relatively simple and straightforward process.
But other consents, such as those for dairy farms, could be very expensive — in the order of tens of thousands of dollars.
Farmers were already "pretty exhausted" with changes to the consent process and the devil would be in the detail, Mr Davies said.
Terramark resource management planner Darryl Sycamore said the reforms could be "transformative".
Reducing the consenting burden on the country would increase productivity and GDP, support housing development and soften price increases in the housing market.
"No doubt developers will appreciate more certainty from the reforms, but the jury is out as to how property owners and planners as a profession will perceive the change."
