Building Industry in Crisis

31 January 2011

Building consent statistics released today by the Statistics Department show the industry is in crisis with consents issued almost 60% below the peak of six years ago.

“There is no doubt the industry is in a double-dip recession as consents have trended downwards again through most of this year and has yet to bottom out,” says Mark Graham, publisher of the Homeowner’s Building Guide magazines and website, a guide for homeowners doing building projects and handed out through councils.

The renovation market was hoped to be a lifeline for the industry but figures received by the Building Guide last week from What’s On, a company who monitors and compiles building consents, show that the number of consents issued for new builds and renovations in the year to December 2010 are almost the same as for new builds alone in 2004.

The impact of the crisis can be seen in the Dept. of Statistics’ Business Demographics statistics released in October last year, which show 2800 construction businesses stopped trading in the year to 2010.

“There is no question the industry is on its knees and there is little end in sight. With the housing market remaining flat a major driver for the industry is missing, and even the purported housing shortage is having little positive impact for the construction sector,” said Mr Graham.

ENDS

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