Housing ‘handbrake’ on region

Falling housing consents are part of a ‘‘gigantic handbrake’’ on Marlborough’s development, the chamber of commerce head says.

Marlborough Chamber of Commerce chief executive Hans Neilson said the ‘‘most alarming’’ figure in an Infometrics report on the region, released on Thursday, was a 20 per cent decrease in residential building consents. That figure was tied up in an ongoing housing crisis, which had ‘‘massive implications’’ for Marlborough, Neilson said.

‘‘It is like we have got a gigantic handbrake on the region,’’ he said.

Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen said residential consents in Marlborough had been down since early 2018, following an increase in the two years prior. It was currently sitting ‘‘slightly below’’ the 10-year average, he said.

Neilson said the region needed an overarching housing strategy and to make housing a priority.

‘‘What we have not seen yet is a clear, concise strategy that pulls together all those different strands. It is not an easy solution, it is a complex beast.’’

Neilson cited the example of

Tasman which is experiencing an economic boom, fuelled primarily by residential construction.

The regions that were doing well in housing were moving towards ‘‘high density, nontraditional housing’’, he said.

‘‘This is exactly the sort of thing which calls for some creative, out-of-the-box thinking.

‘‘We can’t just keep doing the same thing, it is not working.’’ Neilson said other figures in the Infometrics report showed Marlborough was ‘‘heading in the right direction’’, like the 51 per cent increase over the past year in non-residential consents. ‘‘That is really good because it tells us our businesses are investing in capital and improvements.’’

There was $66 million worth of building consents issued in Marlborough over the past 12 months.

Olsen said that was driven by several key developments including $7m worth of boarding-house style accommodation, and about $5m worth of works for shops, which he suspected was in relation to the alterations at New World Blenheim.

Marlborough had the lowest regional unemployment rate in the country, sitting at 3 per cent compared with the national average of 4.2 per cent. However, this coincided with a 13 per cent rise in people on job seeker support.