Development soaring in Taupo District

Have you noticed how many houses are being built at the moment? We sure have here at the council - resource consents and development inquiries are at the highest rate since the Global Financial Crisis!

Consents and regulatory manager Scott Devonport said it had been a busy year for building and resource consents, and it wasn't showing any signs of letting up.

"We've had strong interest from developers for subdivisions and land development in the district," he said. "Our general requests have almost doubled compared to last year, and in September we had almost triple the volume of planning queries as September 2015."

The trend is a reflection of a busy real estate market and the number of people undertaking developments on their sites, he said.

In the year to September, there have been 240 building consents for new dwellings, up 53 per cent on last year and up 142 per cent for the same period in 2014. The average processing time for these consents is seven working days.

"At this rate we should see over 300 consents for new dwellings by the end of the year," Scott said.

And it's not just Taupo that's bringing in the queries - Kinloch is buzzing too! Kinloch currently makes up 23 per cent of new dwelling consents. Vacant land is in demand and a number of subdivisions have recently been lodged including the expansion of the Locheagles development and a block of land on Lisland Drive (formally known as Te Kowhai Downs).

Scott said resource consents were up 41 per cent on the same period last year, and it was keeping staff very busy leading up to Christmas. The average processing time for these consents is 16 working days.