Manawatu consents buck trend

The Manawatu/whanganui region’s high building consent numbers make it one of the few areas cutting into a backlog of new homes created by the Global Financial Crisis.

A certain number of new houses need to be built each year to keep up with population growth, but the uncertainty after the 2008 recession had created a significant shortfall.

Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) chief executive Warwick Quinn said this meant fewer homes were built and housing levels began to fall behind the population rate.

New Zealanders built 45,000 fewer homes over the past 10 years than they did in the previous 10, with the population growing by about 480,000 over that time.

Most regions were still between 18 months to two years behind, but Manawatu/whanganui had a notably smaller shortfall and was less than a year behind, Quinn said.

With a 49 per cent increase in building consents issued for new homes in 2016, Manawatu/ Whanganui had the highest growth in the country and was one of the few to eat into the backlog.

Statistics New Zealand figures show 29,970 consents were issued for new houses last year, the highest number since 2004 and a 10 per cent increase on 2015.

But population growth meant the construction industry was treading water overall, Quinn said.

‘‘But New Zealand needs at least 30,000 new houses per year just to stand still...[it’s] the new normal based on our population, but does not replace the shortfall [that has] developed.’’

BCITO figures show the rate of construction last year returned to New Zealand’s long-term average of 6.5 new houses per 1,000 people each year. This was after it bottomed out at 3.1 builds per 1000 people in 2011.

With 799 new residential building consents issued in Manawatu/ Whanganui, the region’s build rate hit 3.38 builds per 1000 in 2016.

The relatively stable population of 236,900, only 1 per cent higher than in 1996, made it easier for the region to meet the need for new housing at a lower build rate.

And since the build rate was well above the regional long term average of 2.87 per 1000, the backlog was reduced by 121 homes, Quinn said.

He said the rate return to the average in the long run, but there would continue to be strong growth in new homes for at least the next six to 12 months.

Japac Homes co-owner Paul Haydock said most builders in the region where flat out with a full calender of work. Japac themselves were booked solid for at least the next 12 months.

‘‘I’ve never seen anything like it. There’s people coming into the office, I don’t like doing it, but we have to turn them away. There’s just not the time.’’

He said it was a catch-22 situation, the industry needed more skilled workers but businesses were so busy it was difficult to find the time for apprentices.

‘‘We’d take on a couple more, but we can’t spare the experienced guys to watch them. To be honest, they’re quite high maintenance for the first year or so.’’

Tayla Haere, 19, finished her pre-apprenticeship training at UCOL last year, but has struggled to find anyone willing to take her on.

‘‘They keep coming back and saying ‘yeah, nah we don’t have space for an apprentice right now’. ‘‘It’s hard, but at the same time it’s expected.’’