A Guide to Property Development Finance in New Zealand

To get the most value out of your land, development could be your best strategy. Your development can’t succeed without funding, so you need to have the funding sorted out before you go charging ahead with your plan to subdivide and build or create three townhouses on your section.

Property development finance isn’t like your usual residential mortgage. It’s not just a matter of working out how much you can afford to repay based on your income – because even a pretty high income won’t be sufficient to service the cost of development. The calculations for development lending are about forecasting the outcome of your development and how successful it might be compared to what it costs.

Development calculations are complex and unique to each project – and there’s a high level of risk involved. It tends to make banks nervous and they’ve been reluctant to lend to small-scale and inexperienced developers for several years. In turn that’s opened up opportunities in the market for non-bank and private lenders. All sounding a bit daunting?

To help New Zealand’s small-scale property developers, Loan Market team members Ammon Acarapi and Peter Cotton have written A Guide to Property Development Finance in New Zealand. It covers:

  • The basics about the various funding options: bank, non-bank and private lender finance.
  • The pros and cons for each type of finance: bank, non-bank and private lender.
  • What are GRV and TDC – and which is right for you?
  • Pre-sale requirements.
  • Development valuations.
  • What information lenders will require for your application.
  • How the property development financing process works.


A Guide to Property Development Finance in New Zealand answer all these questions and gives you the guidance you need to take the next steps with your development. This free e-book will walk you through the basics of property development finance, step by step – it’s designed as a tool to help you get started on making your property development dream into a reality.'


Published: 21/6/2023
)