Homeowners paying for their Christmas break with big money earned from renting out their homes may face a review.
Bookabach, Holidayhouses and Airbnb are just some of the websites used by Nelson residents to rent their homes over the Christmas-New Year period. Some have been getting up to $400 a night from holidaying families keen to soak up the region’s sunshine.
The Nelson City Council requires homeowners to have a resource consent when offering commercial accommodation for any length of stay, a regulation possibly overlooked by many.
Holiday home websites are teeming with houses to rent across Nelson and Tasman.
Nelson City Council chief executive Clare Hadley said the council was not ‘‘actively checking residential properties offering commercial accommodation’’.
But she said the council was in the process of reviewing the Nelson Resource Management plan.
It aimed to release a new draft resource management plan, which include commercial accommodation regulations, by the end of 2017.
The public would be able to make submissions once the draft was released.
AMI Nelson branch manager Vicki Beauchamp suggested policy holders contacted their insurer if they planned to let their property out on a short term basis so that there were ‘‘no surprises.
(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, January 12th, 2017)
With house prices in Nelson increasing at a faster rate than Auckland, recent first home buyers are thankful to be in the market.
The latest monthly QV House Price Index shows Nelson house values have increased by 16.6 per cent year on year and 4.8 per cent over the past three months, which has surpassed the rate of growth in the Auckland market.
The latest statistics from the monthly QV House Price Index show the average value in Nelson is now just shy of half a million dollars at $499,866.
Houses in the Tasman District had also increased by 14.4 per cent over the past year and 5.0 per cent over the past three months and the average value in the district was $499,082.
(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, January 12th, 2017)
Residents of a central Nelson rest home will be moved to other facilities to make way for an $18 million redevelopment.
Oceania Healthcare announced yesterday that it will close Green Gables rest home and retirement village in Bridge St at the end of April.
Oceania Healthcare CEO Earl Gasparich said the new facility would include 61 care suites and 27 independent living apartments — more than double the capacity of the existing buildings.
The existing care facility will be removed and a new two to three storey building constructed on the eastern portion of the site.
Resource consent for an $18 million redevelopment was granted in 2013, but Gasparich said the plans had changed since then.
The new resource consent was issued on Monday.
Gasparich said the current facility was ‘‘outdated’’ and in need of a substantial revamp.
The resource consent application in 2013 attracted 28 public submissions — 27 in opposition and one neutral. They objected to the height of the central building, the intensity of the development, the change in character to the area and traffic issues.
The company changed its application to reduce the height of the three-storeyed building and eaves. In the new resource consent decision, independent commissioner Dr Rob Lieffering said the redevelopment will ‘‘improve the on-site amenity and the streetscape’’ of Bridge St.
(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, January 12th, 2017)
The Wairoa Gorge mountainbike park finally opens to the public today with cyclists from around the country clamouring to ride the internationally-rated trails.
The Nelson Mountain Bike Club ( NMTBC) entered into a 12-month free lease agreement with Resource Holdings Limited (RHL) in October giving members the opportunity to ride 70km of handbuilt mountainbike trails, southwest of Nelson.
Previously the 841 hectares of land, owned by a secretive US billionaire, was only opened once a year for the Dodzy Memorial Enduro event but is now open exclusively to Nelson club members.
So far, 550 riders have signed up to ride at the mountainbiking mecca.
NMTBC secretary Paul Jennings said the club was already at 50 per cent capacity for the gorge and anticipated the opening would bring about another rush of memberships.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, January 13th, 2017)
Nelson is hitting record highs in average asking prices for homes, the latest Trade Me Property Index figures confirm.
The statistics for December 2016 show Nelson is among the seven regions setting new housing marks.
According to Trade Me, the average asking price in Nelson crossed the half million dollar mark in December at $548,450, a 17.6 per cent rise in the past 12 months.
The Trade Me statistics are in line with the latest QV House Price Index which showed that Nelson house values have increased by 16.6 per cent year on year and 4.8 per cent over the past three months.
In Richmond house values have increased by 14.4 per cent and 5 per cent over the past three months.
The QV stats also showed the average value in Nelson is $499,866, with Richmond just under that at $499,082.
(The Nelson Mail, Saturday, January 14th, 2017)
Don't give up.
Don't lose hope.
Don't sell out.
Christopher Reeve