Source: New Zealand Government
- In the year ended September 2021, 47,331 new homes consented, up 25 per cent from the September 2020 year.
- In September 2021, 4,483 new dwellings consented
- Auckland’s new homes consented numbers rose 29 per cent in the last year
The construction sector is building new houses at record levels, says Minister for Building and Construction Poto Williams.
“We reached a milestone earlier this year in March 2021 when we consented more homes to be built than any government in a year since the 1970s. Now, for the seventh month in a row, we have continued to outperform these records,” said Poto Williams.
Estimates from Statistics New Zealand released today show the number of new homes consented in the year ended 30 September 2021 is at a record high of 47,331. This is an increase of 25 per cent from the September 2020 year.
“These figures today show that in spite of challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, the building and construction sector has remained resilient,” Poto Williams said.
The building construction industry had 5.1 per cent (13,400) more employees in the year to 30 June 2021 than in the year to June 2020. The sector remains the fourth largest employer in New Zealand and now makes up approximately 10 per cent of the national workforce at 275,600 people.
“The ground breaking levels of demand for residential construction we are currently experiencing paired with strong government investment in infrastructure has meant that the sector has been in a stronger position to front our economic recovery from COVID-19,” Poto Williams said.
“From the last quarter of 2020, the construction sector quickly grew to become one of the major contributors to GDP growth in the country, as demand for construction began to pick up.
“Looking ahead, there may be opportunities to introduce efficiencies in the building process with the introduction of new and innovative building designs and technologies.
“Yesterday Cabinet agreed to regulatory proposals to support greater opportunity for innovation and economies of scale in the building sector. Part of these proposals include regulatory detail to support a new voluntary certification scheme for modular component manufacturers which will enable the sector to take advantage of offsite building techniques.”
Offsite manufacturing techniques for new homes and building components for homes are seeing increased global popularity. These decisions will support the increased use of off-site manufacturing approaches in the building sector, which can lift productivity, reduce building costs and time, and contribute to better environmental outcomes through a reduction in waste and transportation
“By building back better we can help deliver safe, healthy and durable buildings for everyone while supporting our economic recovery to COVID-19” Poto Williams said.
Housing achievements:
- We’ve moved to stop housing speculation, with our ban on foreign buyers and removing tax advantages for property speculators.
- Since November 2017 we have delivered an extra 8,516 public housing homes, with 6,751 being new builds. An extra 2,867 Transitional homes have also been added in this time.
- We are investing more than any government has done since the 1970’s on infrastructure like pipes and roads to get more housing built.
- Our $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund for infrastructure will invest in increasing the pace and scale of new, affordable housing, including for Māori
- $380 million for Māori housing in Budget 2021 to build on the MAIHI work we’ve started.
- $2 billion in extra borrowing for Kāinga Ora for strategic land purchases for housing.
- We are cutting red tape to boost housing supply and enable more medium density housing – allowing people to build up to three homes of up to three storeys on most sites without the need for a resource consent
