An update on New Medium Density Residential Standards
July 2022
An update on New Medium Density Residential Standards
We’re getting a lot of enquiries about the new Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), which come into effect on 19 August 2022 as required by the Resource Management Act.
Our consents team is working through the complex legal framework that surrounds these significant changes to our District Plan, and what it means for people wanting to develop or those working in the industry.
What we can confirm at this stage is that by 20 August 2022, the date we must have notified our Housing and Business Choice Plan Change (PC14) by, MDRS will come into effect unless a Qualifying Matter applies. This will enable up to three houses of up to 12 metres high to be developed in most residential areas of urban Christchurch, without the need to apply for a resource consent – as long as the MDRS as set out in Schedule 3A of the Resource Management Act are complied with.
MDRS are the standards that deal with built form matters such as height, setback from boundaries, recession planes, outlook spaces, site coverage, landscaping, etc. Any additional standards added by the Council will not apply until a decision is made on PC14, which is required by 20 August 2023.
Through PC14, we're proposing changes to the zoning of residential and commercial centres, and some industrial areas, that will also allow increased development over and above MDRS. We're also proposing Qualifying Matters where the scale and density of buildings enabled can be reduced.
What happens in the meantime?
Until a decision is made on PC14, we'll continue to assess all development proposals for a site in a Qualifying Matter area, or those seeking to use the zoning changes that allow increased development, under the current District Plan provisions (with consideration given to the MDRS and PC14 provisions as part of the decision-making process).
We're still establishing how a proposal that doesn’t comply with the MDRS standards, or is for four or more residential units on a site, will be processed in terms of the overlap between the PC14 provisions and the current District Plan.
We’ll update you on these and other scenarios when this is confirmed, including for subdivision and how the general rules in the District Plan will be applied – such as earthworks, transport, noise, etc.
We understand that the lack of certainty about how the new rules will apply is difficult for those in the development industry, and we'll provide more information as soon as we can.
Keep in touch
If you have any questions about your resource consent applications, please get in touch with us at CCCResourceconsentapplications@ccc.govt.nz. We'll also try to keep you updated on the expected processing timeframe once your application has been allocated.
We send out surveys with every decision, and we encourage you to complete those to help us improve the service we can offer you. You can also contact our team leaders directly if you need to.
The last six months has seen some changes in Resource Consents, with a fifth consenting team established as well as a number of new recruits and staff movements. For your information, here's a list of all our planning staff, team leaders and managers and the line of reporting.
For more information on all things Resource Consents, please email dutyplanner@ccc.govt.nz or call 941 8999.
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