Building a house on rural property
Under the Christchurch City Plan
A house can be built, provided the allotment size meets the minimum shown below (only one house per allotment):
Rural 1 – 20ha
Rural 2 – 4ha
Rural 3 – 4ha
Rural 4 – 20ha
Rural 5 – west or north of the Christchurch International Airport as shown in the proposed City Plan in Part 4, Appendix 4 – 20ha
Rural 5 – east or south of the Christchurch International Airport as shown in the proposed City Plan in Part 4, Appendix 4 – 4ha
Rural 6 – 100ha
Rural 7 – 2ha
Rural H – 100ha
Rural Q – 4ha. Residential unit shall only be used in conjunction with mineral extraction activities for custodial or management purposes and shall be relocatable.
There are some reductions in the rural 2, 3 and 5 Zones. New dwellings close to the airport are further restricted.
View the City Plan for details or direct specific requests to the Council Duty Planner on (03) 941 8999 .
Under the Banks Peninsula District Plan
Rural – 40ha is the permitted site size for a single dwelling providing that the site is located entirely below the 160m contour line or outside or any outstanding natural landscape or coastal natural landscape area.
Where sites are located entirely above the 160m contour line, the minimum site size for a single dwelling is 100ha provided the site is outside any landscape or coastal protection area.
Resource consent required as a discretionary activity for dwellings on sites between 10 and 40–100ha; or where a site of no less than 1ha site has been subdivided for the purpose of erecting a dwelling together with a balance area which is legally defined and which in combination with the new 1ha site achieves a minimum area of 10ha. (Note: both the 1ha site and balance area are required to be subject to covenants preventing the erection of further dwellings).
A dwelling on a site below 10ha or within a outstanding natural landscape or coastal natural character landscape area is a non-complying activity requiring resource consent. (Note: these rules are subject to an appeal regarding the dwelling density and minimum lot size provisions).
Please contact the Duty Planner at the Lyttelton Service Centre on 03) 941 8666 to discuss in more detail these provisions.
Height restrictions for buildings in living zones
Under the Christchurch City Plan
All living zones permit at least two storeys:
- In Living Zones 1, 2 and in some of the Living 3 Zones, a maximum height of 8m is permitted which equates to roughly two storeys.
- In the rest of the Living 3 Zone, height restrictions vary depending on the location and can be 9.5m, 11m or 20m.
- Living 4 Zones need to be checked against planning maps 39D and G due to maximum heights varying from 6–30m.
- Height restrictions for Living Zone H is 7m and up to 9m with a resource consent.
- Regardless of the height permitted, all buildings still need to comply with the recession plane rule which protects privacy and sunlight admission of adjoining properties.
Under the Banks Peninsula District Plan
The following rules apply:
- Residential zone – 7m dwellings, 4.5m accessory buildings (recession plane measured 2m above all boundaries with a recession angle of 45 degrees)
- Small settlement – 7m dwellings, 4.5m accessory buildings (recession plane measured 2m above all boundaries with a recession angle of 45 degrees)
- Residential conservation – 7m dwellings, 4.5m accessory buildings (recession plane measured 2m above all boundaries with a recession angle of 45 degrees – except road boundaries)
- Papakainga – 7m dwellings, 4.5m accessory buildings (recession plane 2 and 45 degrees all adjoining site boundaries).
- Rural – 7.5m (no recession plane).
Height restrictions and allowable space on balcony railings
Where it is possible to fall more than 1m, a barrier must be provided. Generally this barrier must be a minimum of:
- 1m high for detached dwellings and within household units of multi-unit dwellings.
- 1.1m for all other buildings and common areas of multi-unit dwellings.
Barriers on stairs and ramps may be 900mm above the pitch line of the stairs or ramp.
Most situations require vertical members spaced at not further than 100mm apart with no toeholds (i.e. horizontal members) between the heights of 150mm and 760mm from the floor or ground level. The Building Code has lesser requirements in areas that are not likely to be frequented by children. Please refer to a Building Consent Officer for more information.
Building over the easement on a property
No building or structure is to be built within an easement unless permission is first obtained from the City Water and Waste Unit of the Christchurch City Council.
To facilitate maintenance or replacement works on-site it is important that access is not impeded and that plant and machinery can be brought onto the site. It is critical that buildings and structures are not erected within easements created to protect the pipeline or within one metre of the side of any pipeline, refer to Section 59(h) of the Christchurch City Water Related Bylaw 1992.
Proposed variations must be referred to the appropriate Council Unit for consideration. If the pipeline is protected by a registered easement then a variation to the easement will be required. Any cost incurred will be at the property owner’s expense.
The developer of any property should be aware of the potential for problems arising if a structure is close to a pipeline. It may be necessary to modify foundations for intended buildings. The size and depth of the pipeline will determine any likely consequences.
Minimum ground levels/finished floor levels for building a dwelling or garage
Minimum ground levels and finished floor levels are required to be set in accordance with the Building Act and/or the requirements of the local territorial authority. Where properties are within a waterway floodplain, coastal margin or flood awareness area specific minimum finished floor levels will be set by the Council.
Foundation depth for a building
Your foundation design depends on various factors, e.g. type of building, type of construction/materials used, ground conditions, site slope and natural hazards. Your designer or engineer will consider these factors when determining the design of a buildings foundation.
A soil test is normally required to establish the bearing capacity of the ground, please consult your designer or engineer regarding this. If NZS3604:1999 is being used for the design refer to Section 3 of the standard. Many buildings require specifically designed foundations that only a registered structural or geotechnical engineer can advise on.
Read more about the new foundation design categories for Canterbury.
Building a fire-rated wall in a garage
A fire wall is generally required when the garage is closer than 1m to the boundary. If you require a fire wall in your garage, the common methods that are used are a concrete block wall or with a timber framed fire wall system that has been tested to show compliance with the Building Code.
You may wish to contact your designer or you are welcome to discuss the matter with a Building Consent Officer. The concrete block type wall can be found in NZ Standard 4221.
Storing a shipping container or similar on a property
A shipping container is a building in accordance with the Building Act 2004 and a building consent is required to place one on your property on a temporary or permanent basis. In some cases, depending upon location and site coverage, a resource consent may also be required.
If the container is purely for the loading or unloading of furniture during the moving process, then a consent will not normally be required. This period of time would not be expected to be more than a week. The container cannot block any kind of public access such as footpaths, walkways and roads.
Building a child's fort or playhouse
Under the Christchurch City Plan if a fort or any other child’s play equipment is more than 1.8m in height (from ground level) or over 6m2 in area, then it is considered a building and needs to meet the rules for accessory buildings.
Briefly, these rules are:
- Distance from boundaries – 4.5m from the road (front) boundary. From all internal (side and rear) boundaries the distance may vary. Where the total length of all walls or other parts of buildings along each boundary is proposed to be 9m or less (where closer than 1.8m) then there is no required set back distance.
However, if a total length of 9m is exceeded then the building must be set back 1.8m. For example, an existing garage is 9m length along one boundary and is only 1m away from that boundary. A fort of 2m length along that same boundary is proposed. The fort must be built 1.8m from the boundary. If in doubt as to whether this rule is complied with, contact the Duty Planner.
- Recession planes – these control the height of any building in relation to the internal boundaries and vary depending on the orientation of the boundary.
- Height – maximum is usually 7–8m (depending on the zone, measured from ground level to the highest part of the building above it (even if on stilts or in a tree this is still the maximum height).
- Site coverage – generally 40 per cent where all buildings on the property are single-storied and less than 5.5m in height, otherwise only 35 per cent of the site may be covered by buildings. Great site coverages are permitted in some living zones.
If these rules cannot be met then a resource consent application will be needed. Even if all these rules are met, a building consent application may still be required.
For play equipment rules under the Banks Peninsula District Plan please phone (03) 941 8999 and ask to speak to a planner at our Lyttelton office.
