Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) says homeowners in the district will be notified of their new ratings valuations in early February 2022. 

Completed by Quotable Value (QV) on behalf of QLDC, ratings valuations provide an updated rating value for the property which is used by the council in setting rates for the next three years.

The latest valuation was due in 2020 but in February QLDC applied to defer the ratings until 2021, with the council’s finance, legal and regulatory general manager Stewart Burns citing the “unique circumstances of the global pandemic and its effects on the district and national property markets”.

A QLDC representative advised that an increase in a property’s value does not automatically lead to an increase in the rates paid by the owner.

QLDC media and channels advisor Sam White said the upcoming revaluations will have an effective date of September 1, 2021.

Property values in Wānaka and across the district have soared in the past year - the median Wānaka house price has increased by 47.5 percent since last November to $1.452M. 

And at the time of the last valuation in 2017 the median Wānaka house price was around $800,000.

Sam said it was important to note that an increase in a property’s value does not automatically lead to an increase in the rates paid by the owner.

“Council sets rates on an annual basis to provide the funding it needs as set out in the Annual Plan,” he said. “If property values have risen from the previous year, this means the rate in the dollar will reduce accordingly. 

“Owners of a property whose value has risen by a percentage greater than the average will see an increase in rates payable. Conversely, if their property has risen by less than the average, rates will be less.”

Rating valuations are one of a number of factors used to allocate rates and reflect the likely selling price (excluding chattels) of a property at the effective revaluation date. They are not designed to be used as market valuations for raising finance with banks or as insurance valuations.

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