21 February

Wellington sees strong growth in housing consents

Wellington is making good progress against its annual targets for new building consents, with 1204 new dwellings or sections consented in the last six months – well over half the 1500 targeted for the year.

The 1500 target is part of the Wellington Housing Accord, which established special housing areas to fast track the building of new homes in the capital.

Mayor Justin Lester says these figures will be a boost to Wellingtonians concerned about finding affordable homes.

“It’s encouraging to see the building of new homes is beginning to kick into another gear. We know we have real issues with a lack of housing supply in Wellington and we don’t want to end up like Auckland,” he says.

“The Wellington Housing Accord is one of the key ways Council is working to increase the supply of housing in our city. By making it easier to build new homes, we’re going to address the lack of supply.

“For the last two years, growth in new consents has lagged behind our targets, but this year we are in a very strong position and tracking very well.”

There were 498 new dwellings and 736 new sections consented between 1 July and 31 December last year. Major developments in that time included a new subdivision in Amesbury Drive providing 215 new consents and a new subdivision in Silverstream Road providing 131.

Deputy Mayor and Council Housing portfolio lead Paul Eagle says that while the numbers are a big boost, there is still more to be done on affordable and social housing in the capital.

“This is good news, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do on the housing front. We have a real shortage of affordable homes, especially in the rental market, and we still have a waitlist of over 300 people for our Council social housing,” he says.

“That’s where we want to be focusing Council’s efforts over the next few months. The Mayor’s Taskforce on housing will be proposing actions right across the spectrum from tackling homelessness, providing social and affordable housing, through to long term issues with zoning and opening up land.”

For more information Hayden Munro 0272366966

Background figures:
For the first six months of year 3 of the Accord (1 July 2016 – 31 December 2016):
· 498 new dwellings granted building consent;
· 736 new sections approved by resource consent;
· Adjusted total (minus the overlap) of 1204

Compared to previous years of the accord:
Year 1 (1 July 2014 – 30 June 2015):
· 628 new dwellings granted building consents;
· 249 new sections approved by resource consent;
· Adjusted total (minus the overlap) of 837.

Year 2 (1 July 2015 – 30 June 2016)
· 612 new dwellings granted building consent;
· 201 new sections approved by resource consent;
· Adjusted total (minus the overlap) of 788.

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