Building Consents Surpass 50k Again
New Zealand’s strong pipeline of housing construction is continuing with the annual number of new homes consented surpassing 50,000 for the fourth month in a row, says Minister for Building and Construction Dr Megan Woods.
“A decade ago under National, in the year ended June 2012, the annual number of new homes consented was 15,414. Ten years on, in the year ended June 2022, the annual number of new homes consented is 50,736. This represents a 230% increase from the same point 10 years ago,” Megan Woods said.
“This Government is continuing to make up for lost time under National to deliver on the homes New Zealand urgently needs,”
“There has been a real design shift in this time. We’ve seen a move away from traditional stand-alone dwellings towards more multi-unit homes, enabling us to deliver more healthy, durable and affordable homes closer to where people live and work.
"I am committed to ensuring that builders have the materials they need to build these homes, which is why I established the plasterboard taskforce as a matter of urgency.
“We’re using a range of government levers to help ensure projects stand strong against headwinds such as supply chain issues and confidence in the market, whether that’s through the Government build programme, under-writes and the Affordable Housing Fund, Megan Woods said.
On 21 July, the Government formally launched a review of New Zealand’s building consent system by opening public consultation to seek feedback on issues with the current building consent system.
“We are aiming to modernise the building consent system to achieve a better, more efficient system that will support us to continue delivering homes at pace for 21st century New Zealand,” Dr Megan Woods says.
Submissions on the consultation close on 4 September 2022. Following consultation, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will undertake further work to confirm the key issues and develop options for a new or revised building consent system which will be publicly consulted on in 2023.