Supporting business  |  24 Feb 2020

People have only one week left to share their views on what rules should be included in the Christchurch District Plan to manage the effects of home-share accommodation.

Christchurch City Council has invited public feedback on five different options that it’s exploring to manage home-share accommodation in the residential and rural zones of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula. Home-share accommodation means listing a private residential dwelling for guest accommodation and charging a fee.

None of the five options the Council is exploring are proposing to change the rules for people who rent out a spare room in their house as home-share accommodation, participate in house exchanges without a fee being changed, or rent accommodation with a tenancy agreement (e.g. boarding houses). However, feedback is welcomed on the effects being experienced from a range of types of home-share accommodation..

The five options are:

  • Keeping the current District Plan rules. The current rules generally require property owners to have a resource consent to list a whole home in a residential zone for guest accommodation. There are some exceptions with rules permitting the listing of small units in the Residential Central City Zone. In rural zones, listing a whole home that is not part of a farm stay or rural tourism activity generally requires a resource consent.
  • Enabling whole homes to be listed up to a specified number of days. Property owners could list a whole home up to a certain number of days per year.
  • Enabling whole homes to be listed in certain areas. Whole properties could be listed in particular areas but not others without resource consent.
  • Enabling whole homes to be listed, subject to criteria. Home share accommodation would only be permitted in homes that meet specific criteria, to minimise impacts on neighbours.
  • Allowing whole homes to be listed in any residential or rural zones. Resource consent would not be required to rent out whole homes for home-share accommodation. It would be considered a form of residential activity.

“The feedback we get will help guide decision-making on how we manage home-share accommodation in our district so I encourage people with an interest in this issue to send us their comment,’’ says Council Head of Planning and Strategic Transport David Griffiths.

You can find out more information on the different options and send in your feedback via Have Your Say.  

The deadline for providing comments is Monday 2 March.