Rating Valuations

What are rating valuations used for?

Rating valuations are solely for the purpose of determining the share of rates each rating unit (property) will pay where rates are levied on a land value basis. Rates levied on a uniform basis, e.g per property, are not impacted by rating values.

Rating valuations are not intended to reflect market valuations of properties through the three year life of the valuation. A rating valuation is made at a date in time. The valuations should not be used for current market valuation purposes. They are used to determine the share of rates payable by individual properties during the period the valuation applies, which for Hastings District Council is three years. The period these valuations will apply for rating purposes is from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2023.

Whilst the revaluation does not increase the total rates recovered across the district, the revaluation does redistribute how those rates are collected from each property. If a property's land value increase is greater than the average (i.e more than 51%), they are likely to see a greater than average increase in their rates from July 2020. If a property's land value increase is lower than the average (i.e less than 51%), they are likely to see a lower than average increase in their rates from July 2020.

Does my rating valuation take into account any damage from Cyclone Gabrielle to my property?

No, the definition of Capital Value has been amended under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023, which means these rating valuations will not take into account damage to land or improvements, such as houses, vineyards or buildings.

The exception is where a building or improvement is demolished or removed and we have been advised of the demolition or removal. In this case, the capital value will have been reduced. The rating valuation can also be amended post revaluation on removal or demolition of an improvement.

Why doesn’t my rating valuation take damage from Cyclone Gabrielle into account?

The rating valuation process was nearly complete by the time of the cyclone in February 2023. At that late stage, it simply wasn’t possible to gather information on every damaged property, accurately determine the impact on values without any comparable sales, and to achieve all this before 30 June 2023, which is the date that rating valuations were required by law to be implemented by.

That is why the Government proposed an Order in Council under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023 to temporarily amend the definition of capital value in the Rating Valuations Act so that cyclone damage to land or improvements like houses, buildings or vineyards did not have to be considered when assessing the revaluation of Hastings district properties.

This temporary amendment was approved following a two-week public consultant period.

What is the Order in Council about?

An Order in Council is used by Government to modify legislation allowing councils to function effectively and recover after emergency situations. Similar orders were put in place for Christchurch City, Selwyn, Waimakariri and Kaikoura district councils after the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, and the Kaikoura earthquake in 2015.
The amendment came into effect on 9 June 2023 and will continue until 30 June 2026 or the implementation of the next revaluation after June 2023, whichever happens sooner. The Order in Council is available to view here.

Why did Hastings District Council need an Order in Council?

The 2022 revaluation had not been completed at the time of the cyclone, and even though the effective date of the revaluation is before the event, the Rating Valuations Act 1998 requires values to reflect the physical state of properties at the time new values are released to the public.

Without the Order in Council, this would require all damaged properties to be identified, inspected and accurately valued to reflect their actual physical condition, which wasn’t possible given the deadline and without any sales evidence within the worst affected areas.

Who determines the rating valuations?

Hastings District Council engages a Valuation Service Provider to maintain the rating valuations. Council currently uses Quotable Value to fulfil that role.

What is a rating value?

A rating value is assigned to every property in New Zealand. It consists of: 

• The Capital Value - the price a property would be expected to sell for at the time of the revaluation.
• The Land Value - the price the land, with no buildings or improvements, would be expected sell for at the time of the revaluation.
• The Value of Improvements - the value of the buildings or improvements and the difference between the Capital Value and the Land Value. 

More questions about rating value

The answers to the following questions can be found on the QV website www.ratingvalues.co.nz: 

• What is a Rating Value?
• How are Rating Values Calculated?
• If you don't look inside my house, how do you know what it is worth?
• What is the difference between a Rating Value and a current Market Valuation?
• What should I do if I disagree with the Rating Value on my property? 

What is the rating valuation of my property?

You can find your valuation and rates information from the Property search database above.