Record building consents

Wellington: The number of residential building consents issued in the December quarter has reached a high.

The latest figures from Stats NZ shows 11,291 new homes were approved over the threemonth period, surpassing the previous record set in 1973 of 10,713.

The number of new homes granted consent last year was 39,420, up by nearly 5% on 2019.

‘‘If the rate of new homes consented continues like the December 2020 quarter, we could possibly see the annual figures surpass those from the 1970s,’’ Stats NZ construction statistics manager Michael Heslop said.