Non-residential building consents
Non-residential consents healthy going into Lockdown 2.0
31 Aug 2021
Our take on the latest Non-residential building consents (Tue 31 Aug 2021)
Value of non-res consents
$699m
In July 2021
Consents up 23% from June (seasonally adjusted)
Factory consents up 74%pa in three months to July
The key numbers...
- The value of non-residential consents grew 14% in July 2021 from a year earlier. This strong month helped to offset weakness in June, bringing activity for the three months to July up 5.3% on the same period a year prior.
- Comparing to a year ago includes some post-lockdown volatility, so to understand the underlying trend, it’s best to compare to pre-pandemic times. The value of non-residential consents in the three months to July 2021 is 17% higher than the same period in 2019.
- When compared to pre-pandemic times, the strongest growth in non-residential consents over the past three months has come from office, education, and storage buildings. These three build types are up by $100m, $79m, and $73m respectively when compared to the same period in 2019.
Value of non-residential consents
Annual total, $m
...and our reaction
- Non-residential consents have shown a lot of underlying strength over the past year. As the economy has bounced back, business confidence and investment intentions have returned and with them, improved non-residential consents.
- Based on the experience of last April’s lockdown, businesses can have more confidence that economic activity will bounce back to normal as we move back down alert levels. As a result, we expect less volatility in the numbers than last year.
- Before the latest Delta outbreak, capacity constraints were a major concern for transforming building intentions into activity, which was evident in rapidly growing building costs.
- Supply chain disruptions and a tight labour market will persist after this latest outbreak, continuing cost pressures in the building industry.
Latest updates
Premium
Non-residential building consents
Warehouses prevent further non-res falls in June
Mon 3 Aug 2026
Monthly
$701m Value of non-res consents in June 2026
7.4% Total non-res consents from May 2026 (seas adj)37%pa Warehouse consents from June 2025Premium
Non-residential building consents
Non-res consents weaker still in May
Thu 2 Jul 2026
Monthly
$789m Value of non-res consents in May 2026
19% Monthly consents from May 202549% Public sector consents from May 2025Non-residential building consents
Non-res consents mostly softer in April
Wed 3 Jun 2026
Monthly
$655m Value of non-res consents in April 2026
15% Monthly consents from April 2025
Office and education consents at lowest monthly levels in 5-6 yearsNon-residential building consents
Consents strong in March, but shadow of conflict looms
Fri 1 May 2026
Monthly
$862m Value of non-res consents in March 2026
15% Monthly consents from Mar 2025$119m Hostel consents from Mar 2025