Government plans to fill vacant Crown land with houses are being lambasted by Labour as a fiasco after one of four would-be Auckland sites turned out to be largely council-owned.

Shoddy buildings are going up in Auckland with workers encountering serious problems and inspection fails at some sites.

Building consents fell in April, after the previous month's strong gain, as intentions to build houses decreased.

Land sold by TVNZ to SkyCity for $10 million to help build a convention centre has been valued at $28 million, less than two years later.

Funding has been confirmed for a class action lawsuit against the makers of defective plaster cladding.

Builders are already fretting about responding to Government plans for up to 10,000 affordable new residences on 500ha of the Auckland Crown landbank.

Free Primavera 50 Vespa motor scooters and helmets are being given away with six "affordable" Mt Eden one-bedroom apartments, for sale from $430,000.

Changes to immigration rules to help meet demand for the 5000 more construction workers needed to rebuild Canterbury have been largely welcomed by a workers’ union.

A crackdown on tradies' cash jobs is yielding "outstanding" results, says the tax department.

Major changes to rules about quake-prone buildings have been announced, cutting the number of buildings requiring assessment from 500,000 to 30,000.

Fletcher Building subsidiary Fletcher Living has just won a huge Government contract to build 191 new Christchurch houses.

Investigations are being carried out into weak, faulty Firth concrete supplied to the $1.4b Waterview Connection.

New Zealand has 72 large fixed cranes up, including 29 in Auckland and 23 in Christchurch.

The director of a failed Auckland building contractor that owes creditors almost $5 million has allegedly refused to co-operate with receivers.

Weak, substandard concrete has been delivered to 70 sites from an Auckland plant, says Firth owner Fletcher Building.

Faulty concrete has now been discovered in The University of Auckland's $200m city campus science redevelopment and expansion.

The Canterbury rebuild's imminent conclusion and business sales will push New Zealand's biggest listed business to make operating earnings of between $650 million to $690 million - the lower end of....

An investment company that failed to build nearly $10m worth of new homes has finally succumbed to creditors' pressure and entered liquidation.

NZ's biggest listed company has revealed how one of its businesses made faulty and weak concrete and sent it out to many building sites, including the Waterview project.

Auckland tradies are being targeted by the Inland Revenue Department in a bid to recoup unpaid income tax.

New Zealand's biggest leaky building payout points to serious flaws in our system, according to an industry expert.

The 150 owners of the 12-level Nautilus tower in Orewa were awarded the payout in a decision released yesterday by Justice Murray Gilbert.

Work on the latest phase of Auckland International Airport's fast-expanding commercial hub is well under way, ready for new buildings.

The amount of vacant office space in the Auckland CBD has been shrinking for the past three years as the economy grows, business confidence reaches record highs, writes Chris Dibble.

Geoffrey Lang's first sighting of a 33m cement storage tank in front of his house was also the first time he heard his wife swear.

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce is supporting a halt of work on two large wharf extensions into the Waitemata Harbour.

Developers who have been sitting on Auckland land earmarked for fast-tracked housing are being warned to start building or lose their special privileges.

Amendments to the Construction Contracts Act are due to be passed in Parliament soon and to come into effect from July 1.