Fears over building industry capacity

The Super City’s struggles with its major housing supply shortage are well documented, as is the widespread agreement that the problem needs to be tackled.

But now a chorus of commentator voices are expressing their fears that the ingredients needed to effectively address the problem are simply not in place.

In Westpac’s latest economic overview, the bank’s economists said addressing the estimated shortage of 35,000 houses will not be easy and the building industry is already running into capacity constraints.

Labour shortages and build quality are growing issues while the pace of building remains inadequate - with building consents falling again in recent months.