Non-residential building consents

Mixed fortunes as total non-res consents little changed

1 Sept 2025

Gareth Kiernan

Our take on the latest Non-residential building consents (Mon 1 Sept 2025)

Value of non-res consents

$689m

In July 2025

Private sector consents down 18% from July 2024

Record Hawke's Bay consents totalling $95m

The key numbers...

Non-residential consents tracked sideways in July, with the value of consents up just 1.5% from June’s soft result (seasonally adjusted) and 1.0% from July 2024.
After a weak outcome in June, public sector consents lifted to $260m in July, up $103m from a year ago. However, private sector consents recorded their worst month this year, with the $429m total down by $96m from July 2024.
The biggest positive contributors to consents in July were hospitals (up $70m from a year ago to $129m) and hostels (up $40m to $41m). Hospitals were boosted by a $92m consent for the Mark Dunajtschik Mental Health Centre in Lower Hutt, with hostels underpinned by a $29m consent as part of Precinct Property’s 12-storey student accommodation building in Parnell.
Social building consents lifted by $33m to $68m for the month, lifted by a $36m consent for Napier City’s new library. Retail building also rose by $32m to $96m, with increases of $12-18m in each of Henderson-Massey, Waitematā, and Hastings.
Warehouse, education, and factory consents all declined significantly from July 2024, down by $63m, $51m, and $43m respectively. Nevertheless, all three building types still recorded consent totals of over $58m in July this year.
Warehouse consents were dragged down by lower results in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu and Manawatū. Education consents were weaker in Puketāpapa and Waitematā, while factory consents declined substantially in Upper Harbour, Maungakiekie-Tāmaki, and Christchurch.

Private sector consents still under pressure

Non-residential consents, annual running totals, $m

...and our reaction

July’s non-residential result was in line with our expectations of flat activity in the September quarter. However, the weakness of the private sector figure highlights a continuing oversupply of space across commercial and industrial property markets, limiting the appetite for new developments to go ahead.
At a regional level, Hawke’s Bay’s $95m of consents issued in July was more than 50% above the previous monthly record volume (after removing the effects of building cost inflation). Along with the two large contributors mentioned above, there was also a $33m lift in office consents in Napier.
Although it was not a record high, the Wellington region’s consent volumes were also about twice the monthly average of the last decade as well, with hospital projects providing some relief to a region where activity has been coming under pressure.
Regional results were less upbeat in parts of the South Island, with consent volumes in Canterbury at their lowest since February 2024, Otago since January 2019, and Nelson since June 2015. However non-residential consents can be highly variable month-to-month, and given the South Island’s better economic performance than the North Island this year, we do not see these figures as being indicative of a sudden weakening in South Island activity.
Nationwide non-residential consents are likely to remain patchy throughout the next 12 months, and we expect this segment of construction activity to be one of the last parts of the economy to start picking up.

Latest updates

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Non-residential building consents

Mixed fortunes as total non-res consents little changed

The key numbers...

Private sector consents still under pressure

...and our reaction

Latest updates

Warehouses prevent further non-res falls in June

Non-res consents weaker still in May

Non-res consents mostly softer in April

Consents strong in March, but shadow of conflict looms