Holiday Breakfast

By RNZ

A rise in the number of townhouses and other multi-residential dwellings is driving the increase in consents for new homes, according to Stats NZ.

Figures just released show there were 50,209 new homes consented in the year ended November 2022, up 3.2 per cent compared with the year before.

Consents for multi-unit homes rose 24 per cent, hitting new annual records for townhouses, flats, units and retirement village units.

However, property statistics and construction manager Michael Heslop said the number of consents for stand-alone houses fell 15 per cent over the same period, to 21,845.

“The annual number of multi-unit homes consented surpassed stand-alone houses in March 2022 and continues to drive the overall increase in the number of new homes consented,” Heslop said.

“Over the past five years, the number of townhouses, flats, and units consented has more than tripled, growing from 6370 in the year ended November 2018 to 21,064 in the year ended November 2022,” he said.

Over the past five years, the number of townhouses, flats, and units consented has more than tripled. Photo / Supplied

“This increase was dominated by the Auckland region, which consented more townhouses, flats and units than the rest of the country combined over this period.”

Of the multi-unit homes consented in the year ended November 2022, there were:

• 21,064 townhouses, flats, and units (up 32 per cent, compared with the year ended November 2021)
• 4325 apartments (up 2 per cent)
• 2975 retirement village units (up 7.6 per cent).

The regions with the highest number of new homes consented in the year ended November 2022 were:

• Auckland with 21,733 (up 6.6 per cent, compared with the year ended November 2021)
• Canterbury with 8873 (up 18 per cent)
• Waikato with 4828 (down 6.6 per cent)
• Wellington with 3805 (up 4.7 per cent).

Canterbury, Northland and Tasman recorded new annual records in the number of new homes consented.

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Makers of a new vaccine say we shouldn't be complacent about Covid boosters.

Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand is working through the final stages of the pre-clinical development of VAANZ-201.

It's suggesting a long immunity against all variants, and unlike the Pfizer vaccine, can be stored at refrigerator temperatures.

Malaghan Institute Vaccine Alliance Executive Director Kjesten Wigg told Tim Dower vaccine protection tends to wane.

It could be two or three years, before the vaccine is available for patients' arms.

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Help is on the way for swimmers afraid of shark attacks.

Auckland-based Ironskinn swimwear has created a range tested to resist shark bites.

The product has gone through eight rounds of bite testing by great whites, bull sharks and tiger sharks.

Executive Director John Sundnes told Tim Dower the high strength materials are layered up to be around five millimetres thick.

He says the shark teeth will get in but the shark will lose energy and not get through the garment.

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Common factors may be contributing to the growing number of crimes involving children.

In the latest case, Police say 10 young people, aged nine to 15, were involved in Wednesday morning's service station robbery at Whatawhata near Hamilton.

Two women have also been charged over the incident.

Youth development worker Aaron Hendry told Tim Dower young people involved in crime, often have lots of things in common.

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New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet's election chances have taken a hit after the revelation he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party.

He made a public admission yesterday, saying a colleague alerted him of knowing about the costume.

New South Wales state elections take place at the end of March, with Perrottet currently in a close race for Premier.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds told Tim Dower this is a political hit job.

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An investigation is underway into Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Special Counsel Robert Hur to investigate the President.

The announcement came after Biden confirmed a second batch of files, believed to include US intelligence memos from Biden's time as Vice President, were found in the garage of his Delaware home.

Garland says Hur will have the power to independently investigate whether any person or entity, including the president, broke the law.

US correspondent Richard Arnold joined Tim Dower.

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ZB is hitting the West Coast of the South Island on our Summer Breakfast road trip this morning.

We're in the Buller district, sampling both natural beauty and historic heritage - but what else does the Coast have on offer?

Buller District Mayor Jamie Cleine joined Tim Dower.

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Sleep deprivation and synthetic scrubs are just some of the challenges Izzy Lomax-Sawyers encountered in her first year as a junior doctor.

She's released a memoir called Vital Signs, filled with heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious stories of the year at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.

Izzy Lomax-Sawyers joined Tim Dower.

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Hopes Kiwi artificial intelligence could be a step towards fewer deaths from New Zealand's most common cancer.

A.I. melanoma screening technology, developed by Molemap NZ and Melbourne’s Monash University, is being rolled out in some clinics.

It detects whether a spot on the skin is suspicious and should be treated.

Molemap Chief Medical Officer Dr Franz Strydom says this technology could lead to cases being diagnosed more quickly.

He says an early diagnosis and early treatment is critical for saving lives.

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New robot technology may be the answer to catching exotic diseases in animals.

A new machine will improve the testing and accuracy for diseases such as foot and mouth disease or M bovis.

It can test up to seven thousand samples per day for antibodies,  and prevent the need for manual testers to catch and ring fence a potential outbreak.

MPI Animal Laboratory Manager Joseph O'Keefe told Tim Dower it's a game changer.

He says they can set a machine up, tell it the samples, push a button and wait for it to process them.

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