Critical success factors in land development in New Zealand: Part 1

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the critical factors that contribute to the success of residential land development in New Zealand. The methodology employed involved reviewing the literature to determine those factors earlier identified as critical by international researchers and then comparing those to critical factors identified in a survey of property development teams active in New Zealand. In the interests of brevity the findings are reported in two papers. This paper focuses on factors associated with the site itself. A second paper focuses on factors relating to the development team. The findings include the concept of “success” is centered on profitability, timeframes and budgets. There was a greater focus on the due diligence phase, at the expense of the site selection phase, compared with earlier research. There were also fewer options available for financing property development in the New Zealand context. The development legislation was generally seen as appropriate but its application was felt to be inconsistent and the source of much of the risk in a property development. While the critical factors identified were similar to those found in the literature, there was a much greater reliance on experience to manage their impact than on the more formal approaches employed in other countries.