House building climbs by 23 per cent

House building is on the rise but commercial work has fallen back.

Statistics NZ's building consent data out yesterday showed a 23 per cent rise in housing consents since May.

But consents for non-residential buildings worth $257 million were issued in September, the lowest monthly value since January 2007.

This is a sharp reversal of trends throughout this year which saw house building drop dramatically but commercial work pick up.

Bruce Black, head of Holmes Consulting Group, one of New Zealand's largest structural and civil engineers, said the non-residential construction sector had enjoyed a big boost from the Government during the recession.

When commercial workloads might have been expected to turn down, big prison, roading, school and hospital jobs had helped the sector ride out the harder times, he said.

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Posted: 31 Oct 2009

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