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Naturally, the construction sector is hyper-aware of health and safety – they pride themselves on it. But now is the time the sector must start focussing on mental health. There’s increasing evidence of the mental health challenges being faced by construction workers; the statistics are alarming from a human wellbeing point of view, and lives are being put at risk.

Some massive opportunities left in the wake of NZ's most recent natural disasters.

The Commerce Commission’s year-long Market Study into Residential Building Supplies was released in early December 2022, and the conclusion is a masterclass in understatement: competition “is not working as well as it could”.

Building consents: Councils shouldn’t be the last man standing between quality and progress

A recent series of property and construction sector forums hosted by Grant Thornton New Zealand provided insights into some of the biggest talking points across the sector. Expert panellists provided a deep dive into the industry from the perspective of developers, financiers, property lawyers, agencies and the Property Council NZ.

New Zealand needs rental properties that give tenants a better experience, so let’s incentivise the creation of build-to-rent-communities, says Dan Lowe, Partner, and Property & Construction Leader.

Our industry experts share what they’d like to see delivered in Budget 2023. What are the major economic roadblocks and prospects for some of New Zealand’s key sectors? How will the Government navigate the tax tight rope? Read on to discover where the opportunities lie in this year’s announcement to instigate meaningful transformation.

Construction plays a big part in an economy, being one of the biggest in our industries but it's broken. With rising prices of material costs, inflation, and shortages, we have five ways to tackle exorbitant construction costs.

Businesses will continue to experience persistent material and wage price inflation as they have over the past two years, ongoing supply frustrations set against the current backdrop of tightening monetary policy, rising interest rates, the cooling of property prices, and access to credit. Read more to find out how to protect your business on new projects and weather the current storm.

Our industry experts weigh in on what Budget 2021 means for certain sectors as well as New Zealand’s tax landscape.

In a bid to ease New Zealand’s housing crisis, the Government has introduced new legislation that will impact current owners of residential investment property and new purchases made on or after 27 March 2021.

New Zealand needs more houses. Yet despite the simplicity of that goal, it's been impossible to keep up with demand. This problem has persisted through both National and Labour Governments – several of each. As much as we might tinker around with the demand side of the equation, putting LVR restrictions up and down and tweaking interest rates, the gravity of the problem clearly lies with the supply side and our mindsets.

Despite dominating the political agenda for much of the year, tax was barely mentioned in the budget. That doesn’t mean the work there is over, writes Greg Thompson of Grant Thornton New Zealand.

Although the tax implications of relationship property settlements are rarely front-of-mind, they can have significant consequences. It is important any tax implications are properly considered and reflected in the agreement to achieve a fair settlement. This article discusses the general tax principles relating to the settlement of relationship property, including the potential effect of the new ‘bright line’ test for residential property recently introduced on 1 October 2015.