$12.7m building rush

FLATOUT: Tissink Builders owner Roland Tissink says business is booming. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

Last month $12.7 million worth of building consents were issued in Rotorua, including 69 residential consents. That’s great news for local builders, with some saying they have enough work for the next year.

Investment in building projects around Rotorua continues to surge, with one local building company saying it already has a year's worth of work on its books.

New Rotorua Lakes Council building consents data for February show there were 69 residential and 13 commercial consents issued last month, worth a total of $12.7 million.

This is compared with the 44 residential and 18 commercial consents in February 2015, totalling $5.8 million. While the number of new commercial consents dropped compared with the same time last year, the value was much higher - mainly because of the consent issued for Whare Aroha Care's new state-of-the-art dementia care village in Ngongotaha, which is worth $8.4 million.

Tissink Builders owner Roland Tissink said his team is definitely seeing an increase in workload.

"We pretty much have a year's worth of work mapped out already. There are a lot of big residential jobs out at the lakes and I think more people moving to Rotorua has also contributed to the growth.

"The real estate industry is booming and in many respects the building industry is going along with it. We're pretty happy with how things are looking for the next 12 months . . . it's full on, but good."

Rotorua Master Builders Association spokesman Bill Clement said the workload for local builders seemed to be on the up.

"Everyone I associate with have been pretty busy and looking ahead seem to be busy as well."

Mr Clement said it appeared to him that there were a lot of commercial projects in the works, as well as residential builds and renovations.

"There is a lot of work going on just out of town, particularly around the lakes. Most of our guys are working on these top end jobs which keep us ticking over."

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh said the figures confirmed what he was seeing and feeling in the market.

"There is plenty happening."

Mr Walsh said it was great to see some of the big projects under way, adding well-known property developers the Chow Brothers, who were redeveloping the Zen Centre, were also looking at investing more in Rotorua.

"People are looking at what they can do now."

Mr Walsh said 2015 had been a big year for Rotorua and it was important that growth was sustained.

"The concern is making it sustainable so it's not just a two year surge but making sure it goes on for four, five or six years."

He said there was potential for Rotorua to grow further.

- Additional reporting Rebecca Malcolm