Surge in building consents

Auckland Council says the number of building consents has risen. Photo: Jason Oxenham

Auckland's housing boom shows no signs of slowing, with a record 23,220 building consent applications received in the last year, up by 12 per cent.

"Demand for consents has been relentless. The numbers keep on jumping so to manage the constant workflow we've brought on board the consents teams from Wellington and Porirua," says Auckland Council Building Control Processing Manager Doug Naylor.

Mr Naylor has been involved with building consent lodgements for 27 years and believes this is the highest surge of applications he's seen in that time.

To manage the heavy volume, the consents team has contracted Wellington and Porirua city councils, initially for 12 months, to ensure Aucklanders don't experience unnecessary delays with their applications.

"The boom has made it difficult to find experienced design and construction specialists the council - and the wider industry - require to meet demand," says Mr Naylor.

The council has approached the resourcing challenge by making greater use of technology, stepping up training and development programmes and tapping into consent processing capacity in other parts of the nation. The council is currently in negotiations with a number of other potential providers.

The increase in consents is partly due to the establishment of 154 Special Housing Areas across Auckland with a potential yield of 56,000 new homes.

Wellington City Council Building Compliance and Consents General Manager Mike Scott says there haven't been any logistical or administrative issues processing consents for Aucklanders.

"Wellington City Council has long-standing connections with Auckland Council, and this is a natural extension of our collegial relationship and is beneficial to both organisations and cities," he says.

For information on building consents, phone Auckland Council on 09 301 0101, or visit www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz