Auckland continues to build less than required

The construction industry can deliver 10,800 dwellings each year (a 30 per cent increase on today's levels) over the next eight years without serious risk of overbuilding. Photo / Nick Reed

Auckland could take another 86,400 dwellings in the next eight years without any risk of over-building.

The figures were in Westpac Institutional Bank's outlook for Auckland residential construction which also raised issues with the quality of new residential dwellings.

"Auckland continues to build fewer dwellings than is required to meet the demands of population growth," the report stated.

"The construction industry can deliver 10,800 dwellings each year (a 30 per cent increase on today's levels) over the next eight years without serious risk of overbuilding.

"To reach 10,800 dwellings a year, a further 7,700 construction workers will be needed, which we believe could easily be sourced locally, based on the Canterbury experience.

"We anticipate that 10,800 dwellings a year will be consented by the June 2017 year. However, we must overcome a range of other impediments to reach this target including maintaining build quality through more training and supervision, incentivising land-owners and developers to bring sections and new-builds to market faster, moving faster and more realistically in planning and approving subdivisions and adopting a more pragmatic approach to building consents and inspections," the report said.

The Property Council has also raised issues about the future supply of Auckland land for residential development.

"Auckland Council must suspend any analysis about future areas of urban land within Auckland's rural urban boundary until the Independent Hearings Panel has completed its work on the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan," the council said.

The Property Council called for staged planning for Auckland's growth within the boundary over the next 30 years, "but it is appalled that about 11,000 hectares of future urban land in the Draft Future Urban Land Supply Strategy is being considered in isolation of the plan," the council said.

See the full report here: