Building consents · Stats NZ figures to September 2026
Building consents in Browns
187 new homes were consented in the Southland District council area in the year to September 2026, up 36% on the year before. They also consented $70.1m of non-residential building work, down 3% on the year before. In the statistical area around Browns, 1 new homes were consented in the same year. Below: 11 consents we hold in Browns, searchable and on the map.
Stats NZ publishes building consents down to the council, so the official figures on this page are for the Southland District council area, and new homes down to statistical areas, which is how Browns’s own count is made.
New homes consented each month
Dwellings in new building consents, Southland District, the last five years.
Since 1991: houses and everything else
New homes consented each year, houses against townhouses, flats, units, apartments and retirement village units. The most in one year was 176 in 2019.
New homes in Browns
Stats NZ’s new dwellings for the statistical area Browns sits in (Hedgehope) — the suburb is smaller than one. In the year to September 2026: 1 houses, 0 townhouses and units, 0 apartments.
Non-residential building work each month
The value of new and altered non-residential buildings consented — offices, shops, factories, warehouses, farm buildings, schools, hospitals — Southland District, the last five years.
What is being built
Non-residential building work consented in the year to September 2026, by type: the value of new and altered work, new floor area, and what new floor area cost to build per square metre.
- Farm buildings$31.1m
123 buildings · 74,108 m² new floor area · $417/m² new · +33% on the year before
- Factories and industrial$15.8m
7 buildings · 1,226 m² new floor area · $7,456/m² new · −54% on the year before
- Hotels and motels$13m
5 buildings · 5,526 m² new floor area · $2,054/m² new · +152% on the year before
- Warehouses and storage$4.5m
3 buildings · 2,420 m² new floor area · $1,843/m² new · +445% on the year before
- Social, cultural and religious$2m
1 building · 267 m² new floor area · $5,243/m² new · +57% on the year before
- Education$1.2m
−77% on the year before
- Offices$1.2m
+337% on the year before
- Shops, restaurants and bars$887k
1 building · 315 m² new floor area · $2,063/m² new · −46% on the year before
- Hostels, boarding houses and prisons$470k
1 building · 45 m² new floor area · $9,333/m² new · +47% on the year before
Consents on record in Browns
Individual building consents we hold, each on its property: 11 from 1 Mar 2020 to 1 Jul 2026. Councils publish their records unevenly, so these are what we have, not every consent issued — for the full count, see the official figures above.
What the work is
Consents in the last five years by the kind of work their description names.
- Alterations and additions5
typically $30k
- Fires and heating3
1 in the last 12 months · typically $6,200
- New homes1
typically $372k
Consents on record by month
The last three years. A recent dip is often records still to arrive.
Largest in the last 12 months
- $5,000Installation of woodsman the stag onto tiled hearth installing interconnected alarms 541 Winton Hedgehope Highway
11 consents
- Fires and heating$5,000
Installation of woodsman the stag onto tiled hearth installing interconnected alarms
- Alterations and additions$1
Amendment - change shower to wet floor tiled
- Alterations and additions$30k
Add ensuite & wir to master bdrm.
- Fires and heating$6,200
Install woodsman coaster multifuel burner
- Alterations and additions$70k
Alt kitchen, relocate bathrm, rearrange laundry, make l/d/k open plan
- New homes$372k
New two storey dwg, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms & attached gge - proposed lot 21.
- Fires and heating$7,000
Installation of a yunca monte multi-fuel
- Alterations and additions$1,000
Amendment - dwg alts
- Alterations and additions$85k
Dwg internal alterations
- Fires and heating$3,000
Installation of a metro wee rad.
- Garages, sheds and carports$48k
New 7x7m gge
ResidentialCommercial The dots are this page of the list.
Near Browns
Questions
How many building consents were issued in Browns?
In the year to September 2026, Stats NZ counted 187 new homes consented in the Southland District council area, with $111m of residential and $70.1m of non-residential building work.
What is a building consent?
Written approval from a council (a building consent authority) that planned building work complies with the Building Code. Most new buildings, additions, structural alterations, fires and plumbing and drainage work need one; some minor work is exempt under Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004.
Where do these figures come from?
The official counts are Stats NZ’s monthly Building consents issued release (CC BY 4.0), covering every consent every council issues. The individual consents listed are ones we hold from councils’ records and other public sources; they are not a complete list for every council.