Housing consents high but sector confidence falling

WELLINGTON: New housing consents granted nationally exceeded 50,000 for the fourth month in a row but a survey shows declining confidence from builders and architects.

Stats NZ released new data showing high consent numbers but this year’s Construction Industry Confidence Report showed 59% of builders and 46% of architects predicted the sector to deteriorate.

Those numbers were almost double figures from two years ago.

Stats NZ yesterday issued

June consent data, which was slightly down on May’s 51,015 new residential consents but still high.

In March, new housing consents issued by councils throughout New Zealand surpassed 50,000 for the first time, hitting 50,964.

In April, consents were issued to 50,688 new houses, in May the figure was 51,015 and in June it hit 50,731.

Townhouses, apartments and retirement village units and flats are a growing portion of consent data, comprising 26,823 multiunit homes consented in the year to June, up 36% annually.

Over the same period, 23,913 standalone houses were consented, which was down 3%.

An EBOSS survey of 1100 builders and architects found 91% of builders could not get the staff to meet order book work.

About 45% of those surveyed were running at full capacity to get current builds completed.

And 77% of architects and designers said they could not find enough qualified staff to meet demand.

Stats NZ construction and property statistics manager Michael Heslop said new home consents had remained near historically high levels, a fall in standalone houses being largely offset by high levels of consenting activity for multiunit homes.

Regions with the highest number of new homes consented annually were Auckland with 21,609 (up 14%), Canterbury with 8628 (up 33%), Waikato with 5094 (up 9%) and Wellington with 3892 (up 21%).

‘‘These are clear warning signs that the building and construction sector is under immense pressure,’’ EBOSS managing director Matthew Duder said.

‘‘While there are positives around the healthy state of future order books and businesses’ own immediate outlook, there are very dark clouds looming on the horizon as far as the overall mood of the industry is concerned,’’ he said yesterday.

‘‘Looking ahead, the ability to resolve staffing issues and complete work despite material and pricing challenges will be fundamental to the survival and viability of the industry.’’

The proportion of architects and designers at full capacity jumped from 34% in 2020 to 47% this year, the survey showed.

The proportion of builders at full capacity has jumped from 39% two years ago to 45% now. —