Brace for apartment boom

Building consents for new townhouses, flats, and apartments have hit a 23-year high. In the year ended February 2018, consents for high-density housing ‘‘rose significantly’’ while consents for standalone houses fell slightly, Statistics New Zealand said. The number of apartments consented rose to 3166 in February, or 29 per cent more than February last year. Consents for flats, units and townhouses were up 12 per cent over the same period, climbing to 5077 – the highest level since 1995. Consents for new standalone houses were down 1.3 per cent to 21,052 in the past year. However, they still accounted for two-thirds of all new homes.

Convicted lawyer struck off

A lawyer convicted for his involvement in a $40 million property development fraud has been struck off the roll of barristers and solicitors. Timothy Upton Slack was one of four men charged by the Serious Fraud Office in relation to the development of the Waldorf Celestion Apartment Hotel in Auckland. In September last year, Slack was sentenced in the High Court in Auckland to 10 months home detention for one representative charge of obtaining by deception. Slack did not oppose his strikingoff, and has been ordered to pay the New Zealand Law Society $1810 in costs.

Builder loses licence

An Auckland builder who lied about being a Master Builder and left work incomplete for two years has had his licence revoked. In 2016 Ioane Ngaata undertook extension work that was not lawfully followed and remained unfinished. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s registrar of building practitioner licensing, Paul Hobbs, said Ngaata made unethical financial gain by invoicing the homeowner, and being paid $235,000. ‘‘He had also provided the homeowner with evidence that he was a member of Master Builders, despite having been refused membership twice.’’ Ngaata has been ordered to pay $3000, and will not be able to apply to be relicensed for a period of 12 months.