The number of building consents issued for new dwellings in the Queenstown Lakes District for the year to August 2010 is up 28% on the same period last year.

Building consents have been issued for 258 new dwellings with work valued at $107 million in the year to August. In the same period last year consents were issued for 204 new dwellings valued at $76 million.

“The residential building sector in the Queenstown Lakes District has proven to be resilient”, said Lakes Environmental chief executive Hamish Dobbie.

“History shows that the number of new dwelling consents increases in the summer and declines slightly over the winter months. So far this year is proving no different in that regard.”

The average number of new dwelling consents issued per month to August 2010 is 32.3 against 26.1 per month in 2009 and 31.8 per month in 2008.

“Month to month the number of new dwelling consents issued does fluctuate a bit and so it can be misleading to compare any one month to the previous month to determine a trend”, said Hamish Dobbie.

“The current trend is that new dwelling consents have rebounded strongly in the Queenstown Lakes District in 2010.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Hamish Dobbie 03 450 0344.

By: Rebecca