A bit. In Council’s evidence to their independent hearings panel they have recommended a very slight relaxation – 42 nights per annum permitted, but more than 42 nights still requiring “non-complying” activity resource consent (likely difficult to get).

Independent Commissioners have been appointed to hear the matter at public hearings 4 September – 28 September 2018. After the hearings they will deliberate the matter and provide the Council with a recommendation. The Council would then usually publicly notify that recommendation without changes. At that point new rules would begin to have legal effect.

After the hearings end on 28 September, the appointed Commissioners will deliberate and write recommended decision reports. The exact timeframe for this is not known, but given the time taken for decisions to be notified in the last set of hearings, this could be anywhere from 1.5 months to several months.

If you apply for and are granted a resource consent for short term accommodation prior to decisions being made, it will be assessed under the current, more permissive rules. You can continue to use your property for short term accommodation in the future, in accordance with the conditions of that consent, even if the rules do change. This is why there has been such a flood of resource consents applied for throughout this year – many property owners are attempting to get in and secure their position with a resource consent.

If you apply for a resource consent after decisions are made, the new rules (whatever they may be) will begin to have legal effect. This is where things start to get rather complicated…. At this point in time there is no way of knowing exactly how Council will treat resource consent applications after decisions are made.

Usually only if you have made a submission or are called as a witness. You would be encouraged to take professional advice before considering this.

Council’s evidence, including economic evidence can be found on the Council’s website.

Possibly. This is a complex area of legal resource management law & case law called ‘existing use rights’. However, there are several downsides including the inability to change the nature/scale of the activity, pause the activity for more than 12 months, and other factors like changing the house may extinguish any existing use rights. The onus of proof will also always be on you as landowner. This is another reason why hundreds of people have opted to apply for a resource consent or certificate of compliance this year.

WRONG. This is a BIG misconception. You cannot operate as a ‘Registered Holiday Home’ (i.e. “the 90 nights”) if your property is not a free-standing dwelling or duplex of two units. Pretty much all apartments require a resource consent for short term accommodation, and many are likely to be caught up in any new rules – simply because they have not realised this subtle difference. If you are using an apartment or townhouse (i.e one of three or more attached units) for ANY short term accommodation and wish to do so in future, you need to apply for resource consent, and ASAP if you would like your application to be assessed under the current rules.

This is too much of a ‘property-specific’ question to answer here unfortunately. However, we do offer a free service where we can take a specific desktop look at your property and provide advice on what your current situation is, immediately obvious issues, and likely costs.

As part of the resource consent application we need to supply details on how the property will be carefully managed when used for short term accommodation, so as to not affect neighbours or the wider neighbourhood. The majority of clients we work with choose to have their holiday home managed by a professional property management agency, and we incorporate this into the application. Whilst not a requirement, a property manager will assist you in meeting the requirements of your resource consent, in addition to promoting your property. We strongly recommend you contact Goodstays for your holiday home management needs.

Serving both Queenstown and Wanaka, in our experience Goodstays are the most professional and efficient management company. Contact Nicholas Casely Parker (Goodstays General Manager) T: +64 21.229.6029 | e: ncp@goodstays.co.nz

Our last blog post has a tonne of info. Also – check out this helpful document produced by the Council. Above all – any questions – just get in touch. We will offer free and specific advice without any obligation.