Why is this important?
Dwelling consents and household growth tell us about the rate of residential building activity and is an indicator of economic activity.
Key points
- In the year to December 2019, there were 4,277 new dwelling consents issued across Greater Christchurch. For Christchurch in the same period there were 2,519 consents (59%), 1,103 (26%) in Selwyn and 655 (15%) in Waimakariri.
- The number of households across Greater Christchurch increased by 4,338 in the year to June 2018. For Christchurch that was an increase of 2,800 households (65%), with 1,000 in Selwyn (23%) and 538 in Waimakariri (12%).
Note this is an interactive chart and you can click on the legend items to change what is shown on the graph.
Commentary
The loss of 5,600 households in 2011 from Christchurch was due to the Canterbury earthquakes. Conversely, both Selwyn (655) and Waimakariri (692) experienced an increase in household numbers during the period.
In more recent years the data would suggest that the number of new dwelling consents being issued is much more closely matched to the annual increase in the number of households across the three territorial authorities.
