Work slow for building sector

There are less houses being built in Rotorua than last year.

A decline in new Rotorua homes has some in the construction sector struggling, says the owner of a building company.

Data from Statistics New Zealand revealed the number of new dwelling consents in Rotorua for the year to October 2014 dropped by eight from the same period year.

R J Conroy owner Ritchie Conroy said many building companies in the area were struggling to find consistent work.

"As a whole, business is quiet in Rotorua. I have a small company, so one or two consents per year is enough to keep me going but others are finding it hard.

"It is always tough in Rotorua to find work but everyone is scraping by. A lot of the established businesses are finding it hard as well so there is not a lot left for the Joe Bloggs starting to come through with their businesses."

Mr Conroy said he believed new dwelling consents may decline further over the Christmas period. "The trends will probably stay the same, if anything they may decrease."

Jennian Homes Rotorua owner Mike Riddle said section availability also played a role.

"We've been looking for sections and there are a few available but none that suit everyone," he said. "It could be interesting next year with the dairy payout. I think that will have a major effect on our business because we do a few on dairy farms. But we've found that we had a big drop-off coming up to the election but we've been steady since."

Section availability and dairy payout were cited by GJ Gardner Rotorua's Trevor Newbrook. The new home consultant said the dairy industry had a flow-on effect for other industries. The drop in population as recorded in the last census could also be attributed, he said. "We've had two houses go on hold due to the drop in the dairy payout. They were due to be built in the new year. When the farmers are doing well we're all doing well.

"There's also an issue with people finding places to build. There's been no new subdivisions for quite a few years now. The main issue with population is if you don't have that demand. The way to grow is to create jobs. Hoping people will move here from Auckland isn't the solution - you need industry."

Nationwide, the seasonally adjusted number of new dwellings consented during the month of October 2014 increased by 8.8 per cent over the previous month - after decreasing 12 per cent in September.

More than $1.3 billion of building work was consented in October, with $877 million of residential work and $456 million of non-residential work.