New houses get snapped up

Paul Taylor inside one of the newly-built homes aimed at helping relieve pressure on the local housing market. Photo / Andrew Warner

Most of the homes in the Western Bay of Plenty's first special housing area have already been snapped up.

The Waihi Rd project is the first of several housing projects designed to help combat a lack of affordable housing in the region.

The project, named Rise on Waihi, offers 0.8ha and 31 homes within a price range of $369,000 to $399,000.

Paul Taylor, Bay of Plenty/Waikato regional manager for Classic Builders, said there had already been plenty of demand.

"We have been releasing them over the last three weeks and we've got over 60 per cent of them under contract already," Mr Taylor said.

"It took us by a little bit of surprise. We didn't think it would be so strong."

The homes were being built as comfortable, modern-looking, brick-and-tile houses with land packages consisting of two and three-bedroom duplex homes, plus three-bedroom stand-alone homes. "All homes come with an internal access garage, heat pump, double glazed windows, LED energy saving lighting, making them warm and energy efficient," Mr Taylor said.

The timing of the subdivision release comes a year after the Tauranga Housing Accord was signed by Tauranga City Council and the Government.

Mr Taylor applauded the Special Housing Accord, which aimed to streamline the Resource Management Act to speed up the process for subdivisions to be built and, in turn, helped the city keep up with housing demand.

"That's why we were really keen to get involved in it," Mr Taylor said.

While Rise on Waihi had been the first subdivision released under the accords, Papamoa was expected to draw even more interest in the future with about 1700 new homes expected to be built over the next few years.

The development was expected to boost the population in the area by about 4200 people. The special housing areas were announced in February.

New housing

* Tauranga's Special Housing Areas

Palm Springs: 63ha and 600 homes
Golden Sands: 29.5ha and 380 homes
Zariba: 18.4ha and 250 homes
Nga Potiki: 20.7ha and 210 homes
Te Okuroa Drive/Parton Rd: 16.2ha and 180 homes
Papamoa Junction: 8.4ha and 80 homes
Waihi Rd: 0.8ha and 31 homes.

* Western Bay's Special Housing Area

Omokoroa Rd: 19.7ha and 165 homes