Plans for temporary Christchurch housing revealed

The new face of Christchurch is light-weight, low-cost mass housing able to withstand aftershocks and rising soon in the city's parks.

Jennian Homes was picked by the Government as a supplier in a deal to build hundreds of temporary houses fast ready for this winter.

Now, Jennian has released the first exterior pictures and floorplans of its new portable homes with the same footprint but different floorplans allowing for three and four-bedroom home.

Families now forced to camp out or living in garages or motorhomes will be shifting into these double-glazed places soon.

All the bedrooms flow off the main central lounge and the houses are just 83sq m, much smaller than the average sized kiwi house now around at least 150sq m but that usually includes double garages.

These houses have no garages but are designed so they can be shifted a number of times, fast. They will all be fitted with smoke alarms and fire extinguishers.

The first 20 will be up very soon, Jennian says.

Theses will be plywood-clad on the exterior and interior, using the building material which has strength and flexibility to cope with future expected earthquakes and ongoing aftershocks.

The houses will be built off-site in Canterbury, shifted to a park and eventually sold.

Jennian says it builds these models usually as farm cottages but they have all the facilities you'd expect in a small house.

No bricks or tiles are in sight. Gone too are the concrete floorpads, so popular with builders but ruined by earthquakes.

The roof is corrugated iron and the walls are wood to cope with the shudders.

Carpet on the floors of bedrooms and the central living area will keep the floors warm. Underfloor, ceiling and wall insulation is part of the package and heat pumps will be installed too.

Two Jennian Canterbury franchises are ready to begin building the kitset-style homes.

The Department of Building and Housing said parks would be used.

"Sites for villages where the portable dwellings will be placed have been chosen working with local councils and Civil Defence. Sites include Linwood Park, Rawhiti Domain and a site yet to be confirmed in Burwood.

"Discussions are underway with Waimakariri Council regarding possible sites in Kaiapoi that would be suitable for temporary dwellings. These could be made available on these sites for a longer period if necessary.

"The portable dwellings will be of varying sizes and configuration. Some will be fully self-contained units with kitchen and laundry units and sleep up to six people. Others will be sleep-out, laundry or bathroom units only which could be placed on private sites so that people could stay on their property," DBH said.