WELLINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government has exempted minor building work, such as bathroom or kitchen renovations, from paying the building levy, in order to lower building costs.

"Building costs are too high and have risen 41.3 percent since 2019. Analysis shows it is around 50 percent more expensive to build a standalone house in New Zealand than in Australia," Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said on Tuesday.

Sky-high construction costs have made it harder for families to get into their first home and exacerbated New Zealand's housing crisis, Penk said.

Currently, any building project worth 20,444 NZ dollars (12,623.69 U.S. dollars) including GST (goods and services tax) or more is subject to the building levy which is paid at 1.75 NZ dollars (1.08 dollars) per 1,000 NZ dollars (617.48 dollars) of building work value, the minister said.

From July 1, all projects under 65,000 NZ dollars (40,136.2 dollars) including GST will be exempt from paying the levy, Penk said, adding that this change will reduce unnecessary red tape and mean Kiwis making small improvements to their homes, such as bathroom or kitchen renovations, will save up to 113 NZ dollars (69.78 dollars). Enditem

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