Service
Feasibility Studies
Test the idea before you commit. $500 + GST flat fee.
What you get
A written report on whether a property suits the development you're considering. The contents vary with the brief — a single-dwelling brief and a development-site brief don't need the same analysis priorities — but services and District Plan rules are always checked, and the report always lands as a written document you can share or keep.
For a single-dwelling brief, the analysis leans into how a home sits on the section: sun, contour, outlook, approach, where the home wants to be. For a development brief, it leans into yield: what the section actually supports under the rules, where the constraints are, how the dwellings could be arranged.
Always covered:
- Services — power, water, wastewater, stormwater, comms. What's there, what's not, what gets brought in.
- District Plan rules — zoning, overlays, height-to-boundary, recession plane, density.
- Subdivision conditions and covenants — newer subdivisions almost always carry their own rules on top of the District Plan: minimum floor areas, approved cladding lists, no outbuildings without written approval. These get read and applied as part of the feasibility.
- Red flags — easements, overland flow, heritage overlays, hazard overlays, anything else that would surprise an owner or buyer down the line.
- Written report — keep it, share it with your agent, attach it to a listing.
When this is worth doing
Pre-purchase due diligence
The strongest case. A small fee to check whether a section will deliver what you're planning is much cheaper than finding out after settlement that it won't. This isn't a tool for checking every listing on the market — that's the agent's job. It's for the section you're seriously thinking about buying, before you commit.
Selling a section
Demonstrating a section's development potential adds real value to a listing without over-committing to a full design. A buyer asking "what could I do here?" already has the answer in writing, attached to the marketing pack.
Pre-design
Confirms the brief is achievable on the section before you commit to a full design fee. Useful when the brief is ambitious or the section is constrained.
Subdivision potential
Whether your existing section will yield two or three lots — and what each lot would actually take.
Buying a relocatable
Confirms the receiving section will take it before you commit to either side of the deal.
How the fee works
Flat $500 + GST. One number, regardless of property type or size. Send through the property address; you'll have the report back in a small handful of working days, with an invoice to follow.
The credit
If a feasibility leads to a full design engagement on the *same* section, the $500 is credited against the first stage of the design fee — so the report effectively costs nothing if you proceed.
The credit applies to the specific section the report covered, and only the one. If you've had multiple feasibility reports done across different sections (which happens — pre-purchase due diligence on three options, for example), only the report for the section you actually proceed to design on is credited. The others stay yours as the planning record they are, but they aren't credited against design fees on a different site.
How a feasibility project runs
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Property address + brief discussion
Send through the property address. A short conversation establishes the brief — what you're hoping to build, develop or test the potential of. The report scope is sized to that brief.
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Invoice issued
Flat $500 + GST invoiced. Payable before the research starts.
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Planning + covenants pulled
Live District Plan rules pulled for the property. Subdivision conditions and covenants on the title read and noted. Services connections checked.
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Site analysis
Analysis sized to the brief — single-dwelling vs development yield. Sun, contour, outlook, services, red flags identified.
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Written report delivered
Final report delivered to your inbox in a small handful of working days. Yours to keep, share with buyers, or attach to a listing.
Frequently asked
- What does a feasibility study cost?
- Flat $500 + GST, regardless of property type or size. If the feasibility leads to a full design engagement on the same section, the $500 is credited against the first stage of the design fee — so it effectively costs nothing if you proceed on that property.
- How does the credit work if I do feasibility on multiple sections?
- The $500 credit applies to the specific section the report covered — one site only. If you've had reports done on three different sections — say, three options you're weighing up before purchase — only the report for the section you proceed to design on is credited. The others stay yours as the planning record they are, but they aren't credited against design fees on a different site.
- What does the report cover?
- Site analysis sized to your brief (single-dwelling focus vs development-yield focus), planning-rules summary, services check, subdivision covenants where they apply, development potential, and any red flags worth knowing about (easements, overland flow paths, heritage or hazard overlays). Written, kept by you, share-able.
- Will the report tell me what to build?
- Not exactly — the report tells you what's possible and flags any constraints. It doesn't draw a concept proposal. If the section works for your brief, the next step is a full design engagement under the relevant service line, with the $500 credited against the first stage.
Ready to talk?