The completion of the 100th house at the Waimahia Inlet housing development in Auckland was welcomed this afternoon by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith, who says the project is symbolic of the Government’s progress on housing.
The decision by a panel of commissioners appointed by Auckland Council to allow new houses to be built on a disused quarry site in Mount Eden has been welcomed today by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.
Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith has rejected data used in a media report published today on the number of homes completed in Auckland under the Housing Accord with Auckland Council, saying the pace of residential construction in Auckland is at a 10-year high and is continuing to grow.
The first reading of special legislation to enable a new 600-home development at Christchurch’s Riccarton Racecourse in Parliament today has been welcomed by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.
A new tenancy bond service goes online today as part of the Government’s programme of making public services more convenient and easier, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith has announced.
“This new Tenancy Service online system is going to make renting a property quicker and easier. It will no longer require cheques and forms to be sent by post. The new system is simple, safe and secure, and will enable the 400,000 bond transactions processed each year to now be done online and a lot more efficiently,” Dr Smith says.
The latest figures released today by Statistics New Zealand showing the number of building consents across the country reaching at an eight-year high have been welcomed by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith, who says the data confirms that good progress being made in increasing housing supply.
“There were 26,185 consents issued nationwide in the year to September 2015. This is the highest in any 12-month period since 2007 and double the low of 13,236 following the Global Financial Crisis,” Dr Smith says.
The Government welcomes today’s release of the Productivity Commission’s Using Land for Housing report which sets out a number of recommendations for improving planning and development systems, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.
Subcontractors will benefit from Parliament’s passage today of the Construction Contracts Amendment Bill which will provide improved security of payment and better access to dispute resolution, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.
The focus of the Government’s housing support in Christchurch is changing with an increased focus on long-term quality housing and a phasing down of temporary housing support to meet the needs of a recovering city, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith said today in turning the first sod at the 109-home Atlas Quarter development at Welles Street in the central city.
The Government is inviting suitably qualified developers to register their interest in the development of housing on Crown-owned land in Auckland, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.
The latest data from Statistics New Zealand showing the annual number of building consents in Auckland at an eight-year high have been welcomed today by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.
“The rate of new house build in Auckland remains strong. The 8615 consents issued in the year to August this year is the highest since 2007, while the 741 consents for the month of August is the highest number of consents issued in Auckland in any August since 2004,” Dr Smith says.
A Bill will be introduced to Parliament to give the Auckland Unitary Plan Independent Hearings Panel more flexibility and help it meet its statutory deadline, Environment and Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown announced today.
A Building (Pools) Amendment Bill introduced into Parliament today to replace the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987 will apply a more consistent and practical approach to protecting children from drowning, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.
Agreement has been reached with Auckland iwi which will facilitate progress on the Government’s programme to develop housing on Crown-owned land, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.
A new category of priority buildings, covering parts of unreinforced masonry like parapets and facades, is to be included in the Building Act requirements for upgrading earthquake-prone buildings following strong submissions to select committee including from Canterbury earthquake survivor and Lincoln University lecturer Ann Brower, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.
Building consent data released by Statistics New Zealand show 1116 homes were consented in Auckland in July, the first time in a decade that the monthly total has been over 1000, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith noted today.
“Auckland house construction is booming. The 1116 consents for July is up 31 per cent on July last year, and up 59 per cent on June 2015. It is more than five times the rate of house build of just 200 per month when Labour left government. The latest annual rate of 8567 in Auckland is also the strongest in a decade,” Dr Smith says.
Eleven new Special Housing Areas (SHAs) that will provide up to 1600 new homes across Auckland were announced today by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Mayor Len Brown.
A milestone in the first phase of the long-term plans of the Tāmaki Redevelopment Company (TRC) was reached today with Housing New Zealand Minister Bill English and Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith opening the first completed homes as part of the Fenchurch neighbourhood regeneration project at Glen Innes, Auckland.
The number of first home buyers accessing Government support for making a deposit on a house has doubled since the Government’s new KiwiSaver HomeStart package took effect on 1 April this year, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith said in releasing the first quarterly report today.
The Government is investing in a single website for all Building Code information to make it easier to access and comply with building regulations, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.
“Homeowners and builders have to search multiple websites as well as many hard copy documents to comply with the Building Code in its current format. This project to create a single website with all the information will help improve compliance and efficiency in the building industry,” Dr Smith says.
Appointments to the Building Practitioners, Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers and Registered Architects Boards and the Chartered Professional Engineers Council were announced today by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.
“Building work across New Zealand is at record levels and ongoing strong growth is forecast. An extra focus is required in these boom times on maintaining high professional standards across the building and construction sector,” Dr Smith says.
The latest building consent data from Statistics New Zealand for the month of June and the latest quarter shows ongoing growth in residential building and a shift in new activity from Canterbury to Auckland, Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith said today.
The total value of building and construction activity in New Zealand is forecast to top $200 billion over the next six years and peak at an all-time high of approximately $37 billion in 2016 according to the latest National Construction Pipeline Report released today by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.
Auckland’s first comprehensive recycling facility for building industry waste was opened today by Environment, and Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.
“This new recycling facility is about greening the building industry, enabling 30,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste to be diverted from going to landfill. It will enable thousands of tonnes of wood, plasterboard, steel, plastics and aggregates from the construction sector to be sorted and re-processed into a reusable form,” Dr Smith says.
