Consent numbers set new record

The latest figures reveal that November 2021 consented more new homes than any month on record 

A new monthly consents record was set in November 2021, with 4,688 homes consented – a 21% increase when compared with the November 2020 monthly figures. The previous record was in August 2021, when 198 fewer (4,490) homes were consented.

Year-on-year figures were also up. There were 48,522 new home consents issued in the year ended November 2021 – a 26% rise on figures from the previous year ended November 2020.

After a seasonally adjusted 2.1% fall in October 2021, the number of new homes rose by 0.6% in November 2021.

Stand-alone houses accounted for the majority of all new homes consented in the November 2021 month, with 2,126 consented. There were 1,777 townhouses, flats and units consented, as well as 490 apartments and 295 retirement village units.

Up and up

Auckland broke the 20,000 mark for annual number of new homes consented in the year ended November 2021 with 20,384 (a 25% increase compared with the year ended November 2020). Canterbury (with a 30% increase to 7,526), Waikato (with a 26% increase to 5,062) and Wellington (with a 22% increase to 3,633) also led the way.

“This is the first time that Auckland has passed the 20,000 mark,” said Stats NZ construction statistics manager Michael Heslop.

New homes consented per 1,000 residents across New Zealand increased to 9.5, from 7.6 in the year ended November 2020.

Among the biggest increases were Northland, which rose from 4.7 homes consented per 1,000 residents in 2020 to 7.6, and Canterbury, whose construction boom was characterised by its rise of 9 to 11.6.

Boom for non-residential building consents 

In the year ended November 2021, non-residential building consents totalled $8.1bn, up 17% from the year ended November 2020. The building types with the highest value were:

• Education buildings – $1.5bn (up 30%).
• Factories – $1.2bn (up 63%).
• Offices, administration, and public transport buildings – $1.1bn (up 152%).