Building consents in the Gore district are up, with the
number of new houses being built on the rise and set to be
the highest since 2009.
Gore District Council building consent figures for the first
four months of this financial year showed an increase in the
quantity and value of work.
The number of houses being built was also rising and set to
be the highest since 2009.
Between July 1 and October 31, the council processed 173
building consent applications with a total value of $7.93
million, up from 157 applications with a total value of $7.42
million in the same period last year.
This year's figures were also up on 2010.
Between January 1 and October 31, the council issued consents
for 29 new homes, five more than for the whole of 2011 and
considerably more than the 18 new homes in 2010.
Council building control manager Russell Paterson said the
steady rise in figures reflected the current local confidence
in new domestic housing.
It appeared a new build was an attractive alternative to
renovating an existing house or buying a newer second-hand
dwelling.
While the figures show an increase, he cautioned it was not
significant enough to suggest the trend might continue.
Some local builders had fluctuating workloads, mainly because
of the local economy and the flow-on effects of recent
business restructuring in the Gore area.
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