After several challenging years, early signs suggest momentum is starting to return across the land development and property sector.
Throughout 2025, many developers and investors took a cautious approach. Projects were paused, feasibility assumptions were reworked, and decisions were delayed as construction costs, interest rates and planning uncertainty weighed heavily on the market. That caution was understandable.
However, over the past few months, we’ve started to see a noticeable shift.
Across CKL’s offices in Hamilton, Auckland, Tauranga and Gisborne, enquiry levels have steadily lifted. More projects are moving from “on hold” to “let’s get this moving again.” Developers are re-engaging, due diligence work is restarting, and early-stage conversations are becoming more common. While activity is not anywhere near its peak levels, the market feels more settled than it has for some time.
A return to progress, not speculation
What we are seeing is not a rush of speculative development, but a more considered return to progress.
Clients are taking a measured approach: revisiting projects with updated assumptions, reassessing risk, and seeking clarity before committing capital. There is a stronger focus on fundamentals - location, infrastructure capacity, planning constraints, staging, and long-term viability - rather than short-term market sentiment.
This shift is healthy. It reflects a maturing response to the conditions of recent years and a desire to make well-informed decisions in an environment that is gradually stabilising.
Early engagement is becoming the norm
One of the most positive changes we’ve seen is when clients are seeking advice.
Increasingly, developers and investors are engaging planning, engineering and environmental specialists much earlier in the process. Rather than waiting until a concept is fixed or a contract is unconditional, clients are asking strategic questions upfront:
- What are the key planning risks on this site?
- How do infrastructure constraints affect staging and yield?
- Where are the consent pressure points likely to be?
- What can be done now to avoid delays later?
Strong delivery across complex projects
Despite the challenges of recent years, 2025 also saw high-quality work delivered across the sector.
At CKL, teams have been involved in major stormwater and resilience projects, complex planning and consenting pathways, detailed transport and civil engineering design, and a growing number of projects where technical advice has shaped outcomes well before formal applications were lodged.
This breadth of work reflects the reality of today’s development environment: success increasingly depends on integrating planning, infrastructure, environmental and engineering considerations rather than treating them as separate steps.
Planning reform: transition, not a finished shift
Planning reform is under way, but all indications from the government are that they want to make it easier to develop and build infrastructure which is at least giving the industry a small boost of confidence.
In late 2025, the Government introduced new legislation intended to repeal and replace the Resource Management Act with a framework focused on improving efficiency, consistency and certainty for development while maintaining appropriate environmental protections. These reforms are progressing through Parliament and are expected to be implemented in stages during 2026 and beyond.
In the meantime, the existing RMA remains in force. Recent updates to national direction and clarification through policy decisions are already influencing how councils approach planning and consenting. While the planning environment remains complex, particularly where multiple policy layers intersect, there is greater clarity now than there was 12 to 24 months ago.
For investors and developers, the key takeaway is not to wait for “perfect certainty,” but to understand both the current rules and the direction of travel, and factor that into early decision-making, project timing and risk management.
Risks remain, but the outlook is improving
It would be unrealistic to suggest that all challenges have disappeared.
Infrastructure constraints, evolving planning rules, potential interest rate movements and an election year all contribute to ongoing uncertainty. However, the balance of signals is more constructive than it has been for some time.
Projects are restarting. Conversations are happening earlier. Decision-making is becoming more deliberate and informed.
For property investors and developers looking ahead to 2026, the opportunity lies in being prepared; understanding site-specific risks, engaging early with advisors, and positioning projects to move efficiently when conditions allow.
Momentum is not built overnight, but the foundations for renewed activity are clearly starting to take shape.
