Increase in Auckland building consents

Building consents in Auckland are at an eight-year high. Photo / Mark Mitchell, NZ Herald

Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith has welcomed data showing building consents in Auckland are at an eight-year high.

The data provided by Statistics New Zealand showed there were 8615 consents issued in the year to August this year - the highest since 2007. August had 741 consents overall, which Dr Smith said was the highest number issued in Auckland in any August since 2004.

"I am also encouraged by the finding from Statistics New Zealand that the trend for consents in Auckland is continuing upward - this month reaching its highest point since November 2004," he said.

"The trend is an important indicator of growth and confirms that the pace of Auckland's build rate has picked up rapidly - more than doubling between 2012 and now."

The figures follow the release of the latest Auckland Housing Accord monitoring report, which showed the strong period of growth in consents. Also recently released, the National Construction Pipeline report projected 80,000 new homes in the city by 2020.

The Government was focused on boosting the supply of housing in Auckland in order to ensure more New Zealanders could own their own home, Dr Smith said.

"We have a wide programme of work underway, including freeing up more land faster through the Auckland Housing Accord and the seven other Accords we have agreed with councils across the country.

"We are also constraining building materials costs, reining in development contributions, cutting compliance costs and improving productivity in the building and construction sector."

The Government's HomeStart scheme would also help 90,000 into home ownership over the next five years, he said.

"The next steps include the new tax measures that come into effect tomorrow, the Reserve Bank's new tax measures that come into effect on November 1, and the reforms to the Resource Management Act and the Building Act to address the long-term issues affecting housing supply and affordability."