More houses go up as Christchurch population grows

The number of building consents granted for new houses is keeping pace with a predicted 80,000 rise in Christchurch’s population over the next 30 years.

The city’s population will rise from around 388,000 to 468,000 by 2048, according to Statistics New Zealand population projections.

About 1700 new houses need to be granted consent in Christchurch each year to meet forecast population growth.

This means there will be an estimated extra 52,800 households needing a place to live.

In order to accommodate this growth, Christchurch City Council’s Monitoring and Research Team has calculated that at least 1700 housing consents need to be granted each year for the next 30 years.

The number of housing consents has slowed over the past two years, returning to pre-quake levels following record highs during the post-earthquake construction boom.

Council data shows that about 13,000 additional new dwellings were granted consents between 2012 and 2018. This equates to an average 2000 additional new dwellings each year.

Council Monitoring and Research Team Leader Kath Jamieson says the rate of consents has returned to steady pre-quake levels but it’s positive that it is high enough to meet future demand.

“The current number of new dwellings consented has been consistent at about 2000 a year which is 30 per cent higher than what’s required to meet our District Plan Housing Target of 23,700 additional households around the city by 2028.

“It’s reassuring that we are able to accommodate the growing number of people wanting to live in our city. Construction in Christchurch is strong and it has returned to growth-led levels after the boom phase of earthquake rebuilds.”