A fairer share for lower-income owners
Research reviewed by the Productivity Commission found that land-value rating tends to shift more of the rates burden towards higher-income owners, reducing the share paid by lower-income owners.
Have your say on
Land Value Rates.
Land Value Rates is Proposal 1. We encourage you to submit in favour of it.
Wellington City Council is considering levying rates on the value of land alone, leaving buildings out of the calculation.
Most homeowners would pay less under Land Value Rates, according to CGA’s earlier Wellington analysis. The analysis found particular benefits for owners of less expensive homes. Read the analysis.
Wellington needs more homes and less land sitting idle. Land Value Rates would help make that happen.
- A fairer rates bill
- More homes
- Less land banking
- A more efficient rates system
Proposal 1 · Land Value Rates
Levy rates on land value
Proposal 1 would remove buildings and other improvements from the value Council uses to calculate this part of your rates.
Now: capital value
Land + buildings
Build an extra home or improve a building, and its higher value can increase the rates charged on the property.
Proposed: land value
Land only
The value of new homes and building improvements would be left out. The land would still be rated.
Check Council’s current estimate for your property →
Properties with valuable land and few buildings would generally pay more. Properties with more housing relative to their land value would generally pay less. The switch would not itself increase the total rates collected.
Why Land Value Rates?
Fairer rates. More homes. Less land banking.
More homes
A new home adds to a property’s capital value and can increase its rates. Leaving buildings out of the calculation removes this extra cost, making housing more worthwhile to build.
Less land banking
Land Value Rates would reduce the tax advantage of leaving valuable sites empty or underused, encouraging owners to put that land to use for homes and businesses.
A more efficient rates system
Land Value Rates would fund council services without discouraging new homes or property improvements. Encouraging more development would help grow the rating base, spreading the cost of services across more properties.
Your submission guide
What to include in your submission
Land Value Rates is Proposal 1. We encourage you to submit in favour of it.
We encourage you to complete the whole survey. The points below can help you explain your support in your own words and compare Land Value Rates with the vacant-land differential.
Benefits
- A fairer share for lower-income owners. Research reviewed by the Productivity Commission found that land-value rating tends to shift more of the rates burden towards higher-income owners. Read the research.
- More homes. Removing the rates charge on buildings can make new housing more worthwhile to build.
- Less land banking. Owners would lose the rates advantage of leaving valuable land undeveloped.
- A more efficient rates system. Council can collect revenue without taxing the value added by new buildings or improvements in this part of the bill.
Your reasons
Use an example from your life or neighbourhood.
- Your rates bill. If Council’s comparison tool shows a reduction for your home, explain what that saving would mean for your household budget.
- Your housing experience. How would more homes near work, study, friends or family improve your life?
- Renting. More homes can help keep rents down and give renters more choice of good-quality places to live. What would that mean for you?
- Your neighbourhood. Is there an empty site or car park near you that could become homes or shops?
- Your plans. Would a different rates system help you add a home or improve a building?
Explain what you want Council to change and why. Use your own words.
Land Value Rates vs the vacant-land differential
Proposal 3 would extend the area covered by the vacant-land differential. The survey also asks how it compares with Land Value Rates in encouraging development and reducing land banking.
- Land Value Rates reach more sites. The vacant-land differential applies to a small group of properties in a limited area. Land Value Rates would apply to rateable land across Wellington.
- Underused land still pays. Sites can avoid the vacant-land differential while remaining underused. With Land Value Rates, owners would pay based on the land’s value regardless of what they build on it.
- The vacant-land penalty is smaller than it looks. It replaces the commercial differential, so owners pay only the difference between the two as an extra charge.
- Administration is costly. CGA’s assessment is that the vacant-land differential costs more to administer than it raises in revenue.
Concerns and transition
Help for people facing higher bills
Rates postponement and a phased introduction could help people manage an increase in their rates.
Rates postponement
Postponement allows eligible owners to delay paying rates, often until their property is sold. It can help people who own their home but have limited income manage higher bills.
The rates remain a debt against the property. Interest and fees may apply.
Phasing in the change
A phased introduction would spread the move to Land Value Rates over several years, giving owners time to adjust instead of changing their bills all at once.
Year-by-year estimates would help people understand the change and plan ahead.
Have your say by 15 November
Complete Council’s Rating Policies Review survey.
Make a submission ↗
Land Value Rates is Proposal 1.
Read more before you submit
- Compare your property’s ratesCouncil’s estimates under capital value and land value.
- CGA’s proposalWhy we support rating land rather than buildings.
- Decay Hurts Us AllCGA · A Wellington example of underused land, March 2026.
- Rates postponementsCGA · Options for delaying rates payments.
- Using land for housing (PDF)NZ Productivity Commission, 2015 · pp. 88–89 on rating land and idle-land taxes.
- The economics of the rating base (PDF)Auckland Council economists, 2020 · Economic analysis, not a Wellington forecast.
- Council’s live consultationRating Policy Review · 19 October–15 November 2026.