Building Consent costs set to reduce

12 December 2019

A change has been approved to reduce the Building Levy rate by 13 percent, meaning homeowners will soon see a drop in building consent costs, says Anna Butler, General Manager of Building Performance at MBIE.

“As part of the changes to building laws that are currently underway, we’re easing some of the cost of building for New Zealanders, starting with lowering the Levy rate,” Ms Butler says.

“Under the new levy rate consent fees for a residential build of $300,000 will reduce from $603 to $525. This is great news for those looking to build or do other building work requiring a building consent.

“And for the anticipated $35.5 billion of work needing consent by 2021 in the construction pipeline report, that is over $9 million in savings for Levy payers.

The approved changes mean that from 1 July 2020, the levy rate will reduce to $1.75 including GST, for all building work that is over the $20,444 threshold (including GST).

“Further changes to building laws aimed at taking further costs out of the building system will be announced early next year,” Ms Butler says.

This is the first change that will come into force as part of the largest reforms to the Building Act in over a decade.

The changes to the Building Act aim to address a number of long-standing problems which have been holding back the sector. They focus on lifting the efficiency and quality of building work in New Zealand, and providing fairer outcomes if things go wrong.

More details on the changes are available on the Building Performance website.

ENDS

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