Published March 2026 · 8 min read

Resource Consents Explained: What Auckland Property Buyers Need to Know

If you've been reading about Plan Change 120, LIM reports, or natural hazards in Auckland, you've probably hit terms like "non-complying activity," "restricted discretionary," or "permitted activity" — and wondered what they actually mean for a property you're thinking about buying.

These aren't just bureaucratic jargon. They describe how hard it is to build something on a given site under Auckland's planning rules. The difference between "permitted" and "non-complying" can mean the difference between building 3 townhouses without any council involvement — and spending $40,000 on a consent application that might still get refused.

Here's a plain-English guide to the consent system, with specific reference to what PC120 means for flood-affected properties.

Why this matters for property buyers

Most Auckland buyers think about zoning in terms of what a property's zone allows. Mixed Housing Suburban? Three dwellings. THAB? Apartments. This isn't wrong — but it's incomplete.

The zone tells you what's theoretically possible. The consent pathway tells you how hard it is to actually get there. And since Plan Change 120 took immediate legal effect in November 2025, flood hazard areas and landslide zones have significantly changed those pathways — often without changing the zone itself.

A property can be zoned Mixed Housing Suburban — which normally permits 3 dwellings as of right — and still face a non-complying consent for any new dwelling if it sits in a Very High flood hazard area. The zone hasn't changed. The consent pathway has.

The six consent categories

New Zealand's Resource Management Act 1991 establishes six activity categories. Every activity in the Auckland Unitary Plan is assigned one of these. Here's what each means:

NO CONSENT REQUIRED

Permitted activity (P)

No consent

If your activity complies with all the AUP standards for your zone, it is permitted. Council has no discretion — you simply apply for a building consent and proceed.

Standards cover height, coverage, setbacks, impervious area, and more.
Miss a single standard by any amount and you drop out of permitted — there is no middle ground.

Typical cost: No consent cost · Timeframe: No wait

Example: Building 2 townhouses in an MHS zone that meet all height, coverage, and setback rules.

CONSENT REQUIRED — OUTCOME LARGELY PREDICTABLE

Controlled activity (C)

Must be granted

Consent is required, but council must grant it. It has no discretion to refuse — it can only impose conditions on the specific matters listed in the plan.

Council cannot refuse — the question is only what conditions to attach.
Rare in residential contexts. More common for certain infrastructure or subdivision activities.

Typical cost: $2,000–$6,000 · Timeframe: 20–40 working days

Example: Some subdivision activities in specific precincts where infrastructure connection is the only issue.

Restricted discretionary activity (RD)

Consent — likely grantable

Consent required, and council has discretion to grant or refuse — but that discretion is restricted to specific listed matters only. It cannot consider things outside those matters.

This is the most common consent type in residential development. It is workable — most RD consents are granted with conditions.
The "restricted matters" are defined in the AUP. For a flood hazard RD, those matters are things like flood depth, evacuation routes, and floor level.
Cost and timeframe: typically $3,000–$10,000 in consultant fees, 20–40 working days processing.

Typical cost: $3,000–$10,000 · Timeframe: 20–40 working days

Example: Development in a Medium flood hazard area (potentially tolerable risk). Building 4 dwellings in an MHS zone where 3 are permitted. A minor dwelling that meets one standard via resource consent. Subdivision in most residential zones.

CONSENT REQUIRED — OUTCOME UNCERTAIN OR UNLIKELY

Discretionary activity (D)

Consent — outcome uncertain

Consent required, and council has full discretion to grant or refuse, considering any relevant effects. There is no restricted list — all matters are in play.

Significantly harder than RD. Council must weigh all effects and the application is more expensive and time-consuming to prepare.
Outcome depends heavily on context, neighbours, and how well the application addresses potential effects.
Cost and timeframe: typically $8,000–$25,000 in consultant fees, 40–80 working days or more.

Typical cost: $8,000–$25,000 · Timeframe: 40–80+ working days

Example: A community facility in an SH zone. A boarding house in a residential zone. Conversion of a dwelling to more than 2 units in the SH zone. Visitor accommodation above 10 people.

Non-complying activity (NC)

Consent — strong presumption to refuse

Consent required, but there is a strong statutory presumption against granting it. Under Section 104D of the RMA, council can only grant an NC consent if: Test A: the adverse effects on the environment are minor or less; OR Test B: the activity is not contrary to the objectives and policies of the relevant plan.

Only one test needs to pass, but both are hard to meet for activities that the plan has specifically sought to avoid — like new dwellings in Very High flood hazard areas. Applications are more likely to be publicly notified, meaning neighbours and submitters can oppose the consent.
This is the category that matters most for flood-affected properties under PC120. A new dwelling in a Very High flood hazard area is a non-complying activity — which means you need to demonstrate that the effects are minor (very difficult when the council's own mapping says it's Very High risk) or that it's consistent with the plan's objectives (also very difficult when the policy direction is to avoid development in these areas).
Cost and timeframe: typically $15,000–$50,000+ in consultant fees, 3–12 months including potential hearings and appeals.

Typical cost: $15,000–$50,000+ · Timeframe: 3–12 months

Example: Examples under PC120: New dwelling in a Very High or High flood hazard area (urban or non-urban). New dwelling in any flood hazard area in a non-urban zone. Residential use in a Light Industry zone. Multiple additional dwellings in an SH zone.

CANNOT BE CONSENTED

Prohibited activity (Pr)

Cannot proceed — full stop

No resource consent can be applied for. The activity simply cannot happen, regardless of how good the proposal is or how minimal the effects might be. Council has no power to grant a consent for a prohibited activity.

Rare in residential contexts. More common for specific industrial activities or discharges.
In a natural hazard context, activities in areas designated as subject to a qualifying hazard that has been specifically prohibited would fall here — though this is not yet common in the AUP.

Example: Residential use in a Heavy Industry zone. Certain discharge activities near sensitive water bodies. Activities in some coastal zone areas or designations.

The one that matters most for flood-affected properties

If you're buying a property with a flood hazard, the category that matters most is non-complying (NC). Here's why.

Under PC120, a new dwelling in a Very High or High flood hazard area is a non-complying activity. So is any new dwelling in a flood hazard area in a rural or countryside living zone — regardless of whether the hazard category is Very High or just Low.

Non-complying consents have to pass what planners call the Section 104D gateway. Your application can only proceed if it passes at least one of two tests:

Test A: The adverse effects on the environment will be minor.
Test B: The activity is not contrary to the objectives and policies of the Auckland Unitary Plan.

For a new dwelling in a Very High flood hazard area, both tests are hard to pass. Test A is difficult because council's own mapping says the site is very high risk — showing that effects are minor requires compelling hydraulic engineering evidence. Test B is difficult because PC120's own objectives say development in these areas should be avoided.

This doesn't mean consent is impossible. On some sites, detailed hydraulic modelling reveals that the mapping is conservative and the actual building platform is safe. But that evidence costs money to produce, there's no guarantee council will accept it, and applications are often publicly notified — meaning neighbours can object and you may face a hearing.

The buyer's risk in plain English

If you buy a property with Very High flood hazard and intend to build or substantially redevelop, you may spend $15,000–$50,000 on a non-complying consent application — and still have it refused. The zone may say the site supports 3 dwellings. The hazard classification may mean you can't build any of them.

What "permitted activity" actually means — and why it matters

The permitted activity category is the most important for most buyers — not because it's the dramatic one, but because it's what you're relying on when you assume you can do something without seeking consent.

Permitted status is binary. If you comply with every standard in the AUP for your zone — height, coverage, setbacks, everything — your activity is permitted and you proceed without resource consent. Miss one standard by a centimetre, and you drop out of the permitted category into restricted discretionary. There is no middle ground.

PC120 has introduced new standards specifically for flood and landslide hazard areas. A development that previously met all standards and was permitted may now fail a new standard — for example, a minimum floor level requirement in a flood hazard area — and become a restricted discretionary activity. Understanding which new standards apply to your property is part of sound due diligence.

Restricted discretionary: the workable middle ground

For properties in Medium flood hazard areas, the relevant PC120 consent category is typically restricted discretionary. This is manageable. Council can only look at the specific flood-related matters listed in the plan — it cannot refuse on other grounds. With a competent flood risk assessment from a qualified hydraulic engineer, most restricted discretionary applications in Medium hazard areas succeed.

The conditions attached are usually practical: set the floor level at a minimum height above the modelled flood level, ensure safe egress, use flood-resilient materials below a certain level. These add cost to construction but do not typically make development uneconomic.

How to find out which category applies to your property

For any specific development proposal, the consent category is determined by cross-referencing the relevant zone activity table in the AUP with the activity you intend to carry out. For flood hazard situations, you also need to know the PC120 risk classification — which depends on the flood hazard category and whether the property is in an urban or non-urban zone.

The free preview at Know Your Risk NZ shows you the flood hazard category and zone for any Auckland address. The full report includes the PC120 risk classification and the relevant consent pathway for your specific combination of zone and hazard — so you know what you're dealing with before you go unconditional.

Check the consent pathway for your property

The full Know Your Risk NZ report includes the PC120 risk classification and consent pathway for your specific zone and hazard combination. Instant PDF, NZ$49.

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