Consents process more efficient for developers – Penk

4th June 2025 By Staff Reporter | news@propertyticker.co.nz | @propertyticker

Consents in the Waikato region appear to take the longest in the country to be approved, according to the latest government data.

The latest figures from the Minister of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Building Consent System Performance Monitoring – Quarterly showed nearly 93% of applications were processed within the 20 day statutory timeframe.

“One of the most common frustrations I’ve heard from tradies and aspiring homeowners since becoming minister is how long it takes to get the paperwork sorted before building can begin,” Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said on Tuesday.

“Just over a year ago, I directed MBIE to start publishing quarterly performance data so the Government could dig into the problem and show how well Building Consent Authorities (BCAs) are handling consent applications.

“Latest data shows 92.7% of building consent applications and 96.8% of code compliance certificates were processed within the statutory timeframe in the first quarter of 2025. That’s up from 88% and 93.6% respectively when reporting began last year.”

Penk added that in the first three months of 2025, 31,845 building consent applications, amendments and code compliance certificates were processed, which was almost 1,000 more than in the same period last year.

“The government is working hard to bring in practical reforms which will streamline the consent system and make building in New Zealand easier and more affordable.

“This includes new legislation empowering trusted building professionals to sign off their own work – slashing thousands of applications to ease system pressure, and requiring BCAs to conduct 80% of building inspections within three working days.”

During the first quarter of 2025, a total of 16,271 applications for building consents, including amendments, and 15,574 applications for Code Compliance Certificates (CCCs), were processed.

The median time to process all applications – building consent applications, amendments, and code compliance certificates – was 7.5 days for residential buildings, and 12 days for commercial buildings.

MBIE said 95.6% of residential applications and 89.4% of commercial applications were processed within the statutory timeframe.

Waikato Regional Council appeared to take the longest to approve consents at 19 days, with Buller the quickest at 1 day.

Around 81.0% of applications processed were for residential buildings.

The Building Consent System Performance Monitoring – Quarterly can be read here