Home improvement approvals jump 60pc

The overall slowdown was also reflected in the number of building consents received by the council in October. Photo / Getty Images

Home improvements provided the go-forward in an otherwise unspectacular set of building approvals handled by the Tauranga City Council last month.

While consents issued for new houses and commercial developments were well down on a year earlier, home alternations and additions shot up 60 per cent to reach nearly $3.2 million.

The overall slowdown was also reflected in the number of building consents received by the council in October. The 189 consents received were 18 fewer than last year and included 114 for new houses.

Consents issued for new houses, including multi-unit developments, dropped by nearly $3.5 million or 14 per cent. Commercial buildings were down $2.15 million or 16 per cent.

The biggest commercial approval was the $5 million second stage of TrustPower's new head office being built in the downtown. Next biggest was Metalcraft's warehouse and offices in Tauriko.

The council also processed 119 building warrants of fitness, rejecting 11 warrants.