Farm parks offer another possible option for lifestyle property purchasers. An alternative to conventional models of farm subdivision, they consist of small blocks of land (approximately one hectare) clustered around a central common area for farming or shared use by the owners.

A farm park subdivision might consist of 50 hectares divided into 10 x one hectare blocks with 40 hectares for communal use, as opposed to 10 x five hectare blocks.

Owners in farm park subdivisions hold separate titles on individual sections and also have common shares in the overall farm land and other shared areas. To facilitate the running of the farm park, owner’s associations are established to manage and administer the reserves, open spaces and shared amenities.

Many of the farm park or farm-share type lifestyle subdivisions that have appeared in New Zealand over the last few years comprise other shared areas and facilities such as native bush areas or ‘environmental blocks’, vineyards, olive groves, avocado orchards or combinations of the above, as well as tennis courts, golf courses, hiking and biking trails and boat sheds. The farm park concept has also proved to be popular in coastal and lake side areas.

Shared ownership of an otherwise unobtainable property in a waterfront location allows owners to gain often exclusive access to a variety of uncluttered beaches and lakes. Examples include Mataka Station and Bream Tail in Northland, with access to magnificent secluded east coast beaches, and Closeburn Station, which has access to three lakes.

Some of the advantages cited by lifestylers who have brought into farm parks include the ability to gain a true country environment experience for the family without onerous ties to the land. They can also provide a ‘lock and leave’ holiday house option, which is beneficial to ‘hemisphere hoppers’ who spend summers in the UK and New Zealand for example. The privacy provided by the ‘gated’ nature of farm park developments; and on-site farm management, as well as shared common resources, which can include pools, tennis courts, boat sheds, and crops such as olives, grapes, etc, are other attractions.

Farm parks also reflect a trend toward smaller lifestyle blocks. Not everybody wants the traditional 10 acre (four hectare) lifestyle block and the upkeep and care of stock that this often involves. Smaller lifestyle blocks are now becoming a much more common feature of the market where council planning regulations allow, and Bayleys predicts this trend will continue as more and more “lifestylers” look for something bigger than a typical residential section but smaller than a farmlet.

Other lifestyle property articles by Bayleys
Buying a Lifestyle Property
Making an Income from Lifestyle Property