News that the annual number of building consents granted for new homes fell by more than 20 percent for the year ended July 2024, is bad news for the construction industry.

“Under the National Government, work on housing, infrastructure, hospital and school buildings has ground to a halt in this country,” Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said.

“Scaling back or stopping Kainga Ora builds and stripping funding for Community Housing Providers making it harder for councils to fund infrastructure projects have both put a significant damper on the sector, and we are seeing this play out in this consenting data.

“The construction industry is hurting, with many companies having to close and around 8000 fewer people employed in the sector since National took office,” Kieran McAnulty said.

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