Posted by Blogger Name. Category:
Building consents
,
Christchurch City Council
,
Construction industry
,
Good news
,
Housing supply
,
Nick Smith
Labour and the other opposition parties continue to bang on about a "housing crisis". It's true that housing supply is tighter and more expensive in places such as Auckland and Christchurch, but to call it a "crisis" smacks of election-year desperation.
Then again, every time that Labour and the GIMPs have declared something to be a crisis, it's been proven not to be, and already there are some very good signs with regard to housing supply. Housing Minister Nick Smith put out this presser yesterday:
Nick Smith30 May, 2014
Building consent figures continue to rise
Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith has welcomed today’s release of the latest building consent figures from Statistics New Zealand which show the upward trend in the number of consents issued is continuing nationwide.
“There were 22,705 building consents issued across New Zealand in the year to April 2014 – the highest number of consents issued nationally in any 12-month period since the year to June 2008, and a 27 per cent increase on the same period the year before. This continues the trend of growth with the number of consents continuously rising since March 2011,” Dr Smith says.
“We are seeing this trend also reflected in Auckland and Christchurch. In Auckland, more building consents were issued in the year to April 2014 than in any other 12-month period since the year to February 2007, and a 41 per cent increase on the same period the year before.
“Meanwhile, Christchurch saw the highest number of consents in the year to April 2014 than in any other 12-month period on record, and a 103 per cent increase on the previous year.
The record number of consents in Christchurch is especially good news, given the Government had to intervene last year to eliminate blockages in the consenting system at Christchurch City Council. More than double the number of consents were issued in the year to April 2014 compared to the previous year as the rebuild gathers momentum.
But it's not just Christchurch. Nick Smith singles out the accord between the Auckland Council and the Government for special mention:
“I hope to see this positive trend continue. Earlier this month I announced the third tranche of Special Housing Areas under the Auckland Housing Accord agreed to between the Government and the council. This has brought the total number of Special Housing Areas established to 63 with a potential yield of 33,500 homes across Auckland. We have also agreed to an Accord in Christchurch to help restore the city’s housing stock to pre-earthquake levels and ease the pressure on its rental and temporary accommodation markets.
“We recognise however that the housing challenge is not just limited to Auckland and Christchurch, and we have negotiations underway for further Housing Accords in Wellington, the Bay of Plenty and Queenstown.
“We also have a complementary programme of work underway which includes reducing building material costs, reining in development contributions, cutting compliance costs, investing in skills and productivity in the construction sector, and supporting first home buyers through our Welcome Home Loan and KiwiSaver First Home Deposit Subsidy schemes.
“Today’s figures confirm the Government is making good progress in addressing New Zealand’s housing challenge. There is no magic bullet to solving the housing challenge but we are on the right track and delivering real results.”
Nick Smith is right; there's no one single magic bullet to solve housing supply issues, which is why the Government has introduced a range of initiatives as outlined. The good news today is that there are signs those measures are working, whereas Labour's solution is to slash immigrant numbers, even though the issue is far more complex than just that.
We talked with a friend during the week who owns a business here allied to the building trade. The business has been run off its feet this year, as housing booms, even in the provinces. A recovering economy, and a surge in business and consumer confidence has breathed life into the construction sector. That's good news for everyone.
