Non-residential consents surge in Christchurch – Media release
30 September 2015
The value of building consents reached an all-time high in August 2015, boosted by planned nonresidential work in
Christchurch, Statistics New Zealand said today.
Over $1.5 billion of building work was consented across New Zealand, with one-quarter of that value coming from
non-residential buildings in Christchurch.
“Christchurch really stands out this month, because we’ve got these non-residential consents accounting for a big chunk
of the national total,” business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said.
Several large consents contributed to the increase. The largest was a consent for the Regional Science and Innovation
Centre at the University of Canterbury.
So far this year, Christchurch has consented $1.2 billion of non-residential building work – slightly more than the $1.1
billion of residential work consented over the same period.
“What we’re seeing in Christchurch is a few big consents for offices, hospitals, and the university,” Mr Kelly said.
Dwellings up from same month last year
Across New Zealand, 2,291 new dwellings were consented in August 2015 – up 11 percent from August 2014.
The regions that consented the most new dwellings in August were:
• Auckland – 741
• Canterbury – 596
• Waikato – 233.
The seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings consented was down 4.9 percent. However, this followed a 20 percent
increase in July, and the trend is increasing.
Ends
For more information about these statistics:
• Open the attached files