A property development involves a series of connected legal steps — buying the site, getting the necessary consents, subdividing or building, and then selling the completed lots or properties. Each step depends on the one before it, and a problem at any stage can hold up or cost the entire project. We act for developers of all sizes across the upper North Island, from a single three-lot subdivision to multi-stage subdivisions and apartment buildings, and we manage the legal work at every phase so you can focus on the project itself.

Who this is for

First-time developers. You have bought and sold your own home and you are ready to do a small subdivision or build a couple of townhouses. The legal process is quite different to a standard property purchase, and there are steps and timelines that are not obvious the first time through. We walk you through the whole process, explain each stage clearly, and make sure nothing is missed.

Experienced developers with an active pipeline. You are doing multiple projects each year and you need a legal team that understands development timelines, can respond quickly, and does not bill you by the hour for routine work. We operate on fixed fees by project phase so your legal costs are predictable on every development.

Investors with a build-and-hold strategy. You are buying sites to subdivide and build, then holding the completed properties as long-term rentals. The ownership structure — whether that is a look-through company, a trust, or another entity — affects how the project is financed, how profits are taxed, and what happens when you eventually sell. We work with your accountant at the start of each project to get the structure right.

Builders and property investors entering a joint venture. One party brings the land, another brings the money, and a third may be managing the build. A joint venture needs a clear legal agreement before anything starts — who owns what, who is responsible for what, how profits are shared, and how disputes are resolved. We draft the joint venture agreement and establish the special-purpose company or other entity the parties will use.

Developers selling completed lots. Selling individual properties after titles have issued, or selling off-the-plan before the build is finished. We draft the Sale and Purchase Agreement for each release, prepare the required disclosures, and manage the settlement process across all the lots.

What we do

Site purchase

The way you buy the development site determines what is possible for the rest of the project. We negotiate the key terms of the purchase contract to give the project the flexibility it needs:

  • Extended settlement periods that align with your consent and finance timeline. Development sites routinely need six to twelve months between signing and settlement.
  • Consent conditions that allow you to walk away without losing your deposit if resource consent is declined or granted on terms that make the project unviable. Standard contracts are often not well drafted for development purposes — we refine the condition to protect you properly.
  • Title aggregation where you are buying multiple adjoining lots to combine into a single development site. Each title may have encumbrances or other issues that need to be dealt with before settlement.

We do not prepare planning applications — that is your planner’s job. Our role is the legal contracting around the consent process:

  • Reviewing the draft consent conditions before you accept them, and negotiating changes where a condition is unclear, disproportionate, or unworkable in practice.
  • Challenging development contribution assessments where the council’s calculation appears to be based on incorrect assumptions.
  • Representing you in appeals to the Environment Court if consent conditions cannot be resolved by negotiation.
  • Coordinating with your planner to ensure the conditions that need to be discharged before titles can issue are clearly understood and managed.

Subdivision and title issue

Working alongside your surveyor, we handle all the legal work involved in turning a paper plan into individual titles:

  • Subdivision consent compliance — ensuring all conditions from the council are discharged correctly and in the right order.
  • Section 224(c) certificate — this is the council’s formal sign-off that all subdivision conditions have been met. Land Information New Zealand will not issue new titles until this certificate is in place. Obtaining the section 224(c) certificate is often the longest step on a subdivision, and we manage the process proactively so it does not become an avoidable bottleneck.
  • Unit title developments — where the project involves multiple dwellings that will be sold individually under a shared ownership structure, we establish the body corporate (the legal entity that manages the shared areas), prepare the scheme rules, and handle the pre-contract disclosure requirements for off-the-plan buyers.
  • Easements and shared access arrangements — where two or more properties will share a driveway, services connection, or other infrastructure, we prepare the easement documents that record each property’s rights and obligations permanently on the titles.

Off-the-plan sales

Selling properties before the build is finished requires a carefully prepared Sale and Purchase Agreement. Buyers need certainty; developers need flexibility. We draft the agreement to balance both:

  • Sunset dates that give the buyer a right to withdraw if the development is not completed within an agreed timeframe, while giving the developer enough runway to deal with legitimate construction delays.
  • Variation rights that allow the developer to make minor design or specification changes without buyer consent, drafted to comply with the Fair Trading Act.
  • Deposit protection — off-the-plan deposits are held in trust under the Property Law Act. We set up the deposit protection mechanism correctly so the buyer’s money is properly secured and the developer is not exposed to claims.
  • Pre-contract disclosures required by the Resource Management Act and, for unit title developments, the Unit Titles Act. These disclosures must be provided before the buyer signs, and getting them right avoids disputes later.

Development finance

We act on the security side for development finance — preparing first-ranking mortgages, general security agreements, and priority arrangements where more than one lender is involved. Many developers start on bank finance and move to non-bank or private lenders as their projects grow. We work with all of them and ensure the security documentation is correct at each stage.

Joint ventures

When two or more parties are joining forces on a development, the joint venture agreement is one of the most important documents in the project. It sets out each party’s contribution, their rights and responsibilities, how decisions are made, what happens if the project runs over budget, and how the proceeds are divided at the end. We draft joint venture agreements that are clear, practical, and fair to all sides, and we establish the special-purpose entity through which the project will run.

Selling the development entity

In some cases, the cleanest exit for a developer is to sell the company or trust that owns the development, rather than selling each completed property individually. This is common where the tax and GST position makes a share or unit sale more efficient than multiple property transfers. We handle the sale agreement, the warranties and indemnities, and the interaction with bright-line and GST rules.

Process and timeline

Development projects run on the project’s own timeline. The legal work fits around each phase.

PhaseTypical timingLegal work
Site purchase4 to 12 months from offer to settlementPre-contract review, conditional period, settlement
Resource consent4 to 12 monthsReviewing and negotiating consent conditions
Subdivision and title issue12 to 36 monthsSection 224(c) process, title issue, easements
Off-the-plan salesConcurrent with the buildMaster SPA, pre-contract disclosure, deposit handling
Settlement of completed lots1 to 2 weeks per lotTransfer registration, deposit release
Body corporate setup (unit title only)2 to 4 months before code complianceScheme rules, body corporate establishment

A straightforward three-lot subdivision typically takes 18 to 24 months from site purchase to the last lot settling. A multi-stage greenfield subdivision can run five years or more.

What it costs

Development work varies too much in scale and complexity for a single fee schedule. We scope each project into clear phases at the outset and provide a fixed fee for each phase before work begins. You always know what the legal costs will be before you commit to the next step.

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

When should I involve a lawyer on a new development?
Before you sign the site purchase agreement. The contract you sign at the start sets the terms for everything that follows: settlement timing, consent risk, vendor liability, and finance flexibility. Problems with the purchase contract often cannot be fixed after signing. We have seen developers lose deposits and miss consent windows because of issues in the original purchase agreement that a pre-contract review would have caught. The cost of getting us involved early is small compared to the cost of a contract that does not work.

What is a section 224(c) certificate?
A section 224(c) certificate is a document issued by your local council confirming that all the conditions of your subdivision consent have been properly met. Land Information New Zealand requires this certificate before it will issue the new titles for the subdivided lots. The certificate is typically the final step before titles issue, and it is often the step that takes the longest. Getting to this point requires every consent condition to be completed and evidenced in the right order. We coordinate this process with your surveyor and the council to avoid unnecessary delays.

Can I sell properties before the build is complete?
Yes. Off-the-plan sales are a normal part of development finance, and for many projects they are essential for securing construction funding. The Sale and Purchase Agreement for an off-the-plan sale needs to address deposit protection, sunset dates, the developer's right to make changes, and pre-contract disclosures under the Property Law Act, Fair Trading Act, and (for unit titles) the Unit Titles Act. We prepare these agreements so that each sale goes out with the right documentation in place.

How does GST work on a development?
A development entity that is registered for GST can claim back the GST it pays on land acquisition and construction costs. Sales to buyers who are also registered for GST can often be zero-rated, meaning no GST is added to the sale price. Sales to private owner-occupiers, who are not GST-registered, are GST-inclusive. There are also interactions with the bright-line test and the residential land withholding tax rules that apply to some non-resident transactions. We work through the GST positioning with your accountant at the structuring stage, before the first purchase.

Do I need a separate company for each development?
For many projects, yes — and there are good reasons for it. A separate company for each development limits your liability to the assets of that project, makes it easier to bring in finance or co-investors, and simplifies the exit when you sell. How the company is structured for tax purposes — whether as a standard company, a look-through company, or something else — affects how losses during the build phase are treated and how profits are taxed on sale. We work through this with your accountant at the start of the project.

What is the difference between a unit title and a cross-lease?
A unit title gives each owner complete ownership of their individual dwelling, plus an undivided share in the common areas managed by the body corporate. A cross-lease gives each owner a share in the underlying land and a long-term lease of their particular dwelling — a more complicated and less modern arrangement. Unit titles are now the standard for new multi-dwelling developments because they offer cleaner individual ownership, are better understood by buyers and lenders, and give each owner clearer rights over their property. Cross-leases remain in older developments and for some specific use cases, but they are rarely appropriate for new builds.

What can I do if the council imposes a consent condition that is impractical?
You have three realistic options. First, you can apply to the council to change or remove the condition under section 127 of the Resource Management Act — this is often the fastest and most cost-effective route when the condition is clearly unworkable. Second, if the council declines your section 127 application, you can appeal to the Environment Court. Third, you can accept the condition and redesign the project to comply with it. We advise on which route is most likely to succeed given the nature of the condition and the council's reasoning, and we run whichever process you choose.

What happens next

Tell us about the project — even at the early planning stage, before you have signed anything. We will respond the same day with an outline of the legal phases involved, a fixed fee for each phase, and any early observations about the site or structure you have in mind.

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