North Canterbury’s building boom is expected to continue as new housing sub-divisions come on stream in towns such as Kaiapoi and Rangiora.
By David Hill for Local Democracy Reporting
The Waimakariri District Council issued 754 consents for new houses in 2025, up from 743 the previous year.
While consent numbers were down on the Covid boom years of 2021 (928) and 2022 (836), council planning, regulation and environment general manager Kelly LaValley said she expected growth to continue.
"I expect new dwelling consents to remain steady or potentially increase going forward with the partially operative District Plan enabled zoning.
"We have already started to see some new subdivision consents come in which will continue to support residential growth in the district."
The Waimakariri District Council adopted its new District Plan in June last year, unlocking land for up to 17,000 new houses in Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Woodend and Oxford.
New housing developments in Rangiora include a new west Rangiora sub-division, development around Rangiora Airfield, and the expanding Bellgrove subdivision to the east.
In Kaiapoi, land has been opened up to the south near Hellers and the Beach Grove sub-division is expanding.
At Woodend, there will be a new development at Gressons Rd, and at Oxford a new residential development in the town and a new large lot residential development on Ashley Gorge Rd.
The district’s population is projected to grow from 74,000 to around 100,000 over the next three decades.
LaValley said key building projects in the district included the $4.1m Pegasus Community Centre, the Rangiora after-hours medical centre and the BNZ corner redevelopment in Rangiora.
The Hurunui District Council issued 476 building consents last year, down on the 515 consents issued in 2024.
But the council’s building and property manager Kerry Walsh said he expected to see some growth this year with new developments in Amberley and Hanmer Springs.
The relaxing of consenting requirements for smaller residential buildings, including granny flats, is also expected to lead to more building projects in the district, he said.
‘‘I think we will see more new housing being built along with a good proportion of granny flats and stand-alone dwellings being built especially in areas like Hanmer Springs, where these units could be used for overnight rentals.’’
Work on the Mt Cass Wind Farm project is expected to get under way this year. Located at Mt Cass, near Waipara, it is set to the largest wind farm in the South Island.
Kaikōura District Council building control manager Glenn Vaughan said building consents were down last year but that could change dramatically over the next few months.
‘‘I am hoping that 2026 will see an increase in building consent applications, particularly if interest rates drop further.’’
The much anticipated Vicarage Views sub-division had infrastructure in place ready for new houses to be built, while a private plan change process was under way to open up more housing in Ocean Ridge.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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