A new drainage charge will add hundreds of dollars to the price of many new homes in Auckland City, where house prices are already the most expensive in New Zealand.
The council has started charging for connections from private drains through parks and reserves to a public drain.
Thecharge is on top of the cost of installing drains and reinstating public land.
The council believes putting in drains adds to the value of a property and as a matter of principle it should charge a "commercial consideration" for an easement across public land.
The average price of an Auckland City house rose from $380,000 in August to $405,000 in September, making it more difficult for the average family to own a home.
Between the 1991 and 2001 censuses, the percentage of people in the city who owned their homes dropped from 60.7 per cent to 51.8.
The city council's group manager of community planning, Jo Wiggins, denied the fee was a revenue-gathering exercise. She said it was a legitimate charge in the same way as charges were imposed for easements for roads and vehicle access across public land.
Jo Wiggins said the commercial fee would be hundreds, not thousands, of dollars.
Council staff were still working out a fee structure.
