Building Consents Issued 1 November

Building consent statistics are about the number, floor area, and value of new homes, non-residential buildings, and alterations approved for construction.

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Key facts

• In September 2024, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings consented rose 2.6 percent, after falling 5.2 percent in August 2024.
• In the year ended September 2024, the actual number of new dwellings consented was 33,677, down 17 percent from the year ended September 2023.
• The annual value of non-residential building work consented was $9.1 billion, down 6.4 percent from the year ended September 2023.
• In the year ended September 2024, the number of new dwellings consented per 1,000 residents was 6.3, compared with 7.8 in the year ended September 2023.

New dwellings consented

In September 2024, there were 2,943 new dwellings consented, comprising:

• 1,378 stand-alone houses
• 1,091 townhouses, flats, and units
• 277 apartments
• 197 retirement village units.

The number of dwellings consented each month can vary significantly due to the timing of large multi-dwelling projects, such as townhouses and apartment buildings.

The seasonally adjusted number of new stand-alone houses consented fell 0.5 percent, after falling 9.2 percent in August 2024.

In the September 2024 quarter, the seasonally adjusted number of new homes consented rose 6.2 percent, after falling 2.8 percent in the June 2024 quarter.

Regional new dwellings consented

By region, the numbers of new dwellings consented in the year ended September 2024 (compared with the year ended September 2023) were:

• 13,821 in Auckland (down 19 percent)
• 2,887 in Waikato (down 25 percent)
• 1,883 in Wellington (down 40 percent)
• 4,864 in rest of North Island (down 13 percent)
• 6,702 in Canterbury (down 7.0 percent)
• 3,519 in rest of South Island (up 0.3 percent).

New dwellings consented per 1,000 residents

The number of new dwellings consented per 1,000 residents across New Zealand was 6.3 for the year ended September 2024, compared with 7.8 in the year ended September 2023. The record number of new dwellings consented per 1,000 residents was 13.4 in the year ended December 1973.

National population estimates are updated quarterly, and subnational population estimates are updated annually in October, and are provisional. For more information about estimated resident population see Population.

Non-residential building consents

In the year ended September 2024, non-residential building consents totalled $9.1 billion, down 6.4 percent from the year ended September 2023. This series can be influenced by price changes - non-residential construction prices (as measured by the capital goods price index) were up 3.7 percent in the year ended June 2024.

In the year ended September 2024, the non-residential building types with the highest values were:

• offices, administration, and public transport buildings at $1.7 billion (up 15 percent)
• storage buildings at $1.3 billion (down 11 percent)
• hospitals, nursing homes, and health buildings at $1.3 billion (down 14 percent).

More data

Use Infoshare for time-series data about building consents:

Subject category: Industry sectors
Group: Building consents - BLD

Definitions and metadata

Building consents issued methodology from March 2015 onwards - DataInfo+ provides the general methodology used to produce building consent statistics from March 2015 onwards.

Building consents issued concepts from March 2015 onwards - DataInfo+ provides definitions of terms used in this release.

Building consents issued - DataInfo+ explains limitations of the data and changes over time.

Building consents issued frequently asked questions - DataInfo+ answers some common queries.

Technical enquiries

Valentine Modera
04 931 4600
[email protected]

ISSN 1178-0231

Next release

Building consents issued: October 2024 will be released on 2 December 2024.