Builders compete in The Block NZ's new season

A builder and his apprentice are among the competing teams in the new season of The Block NZ.

TV3 has announced the cast of the fifth season of its reality renovation show and the theme to the new series - "Girls Vs Boys".

Among the "Boys" are Mount Maunganui mates Dylan Cossey and Dylan Guitink - or "Dyls and Dylz" - who, as well as being mates, are a qualified builder and his apprentice.

The other male team are Wellingtonian flatmates Sam Cable and Emmett Vallender, who will be bringing their white collar skills as a business development manager and HR advisor to the competition.

The "Girls" teams both hail from the South Island, though former Wanaka resident Tiffany Mair has headed from her career in Melbourne as a television set dresser to join her team-mate Niki Osborne, who is a Christchurch-based forensic research scientist with a PhD.

The other all-female team are Dunedin-ites Emma Diamond and Courtney MacKay, who have a background in admin and work in an interior design business between them.

All the competitors are in their mid to late 20s, except Mair who is 35.

The four teams will be renovating a group of 1980s townhouses in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank.

The show, which is hosted again by Mark Richardson and Shelley Ferguson and with new judges Paul Izzard and Fiona McLeod, starts screening on Sunday May 29.