Contractors have broken ground on a new lifestyle village along Pukehangi Rd. Photo / Supplied
Contractors have broken ground on a new lifestyle village along Pukehangi Rd. Photo / Supplied
A new development of 197 affordable homes for young retirees is expected to be ready for occupancy by the end of 2022.
Contractors have broken ground on a new 197-home lifestyle village in what has been described as the largest single consent issued for Rotorua in the past two decades.
The move from the Rotorua Lakes Council to grant resource consent has been praised by Rotorua MP Todd McClay.
The new Freedom Lifestyle Villages development, at the Ngongotahā end of Pukehangi Rd, is designed as a lifestyle village for people over 50. Show homes are expected to open to the public by mid-next year.
This is after the Government announced last month it has bought a block of land on Collie Drive, also in Pukehangi, for $12.6 million and plans to build a subdivision of 60 houses for those without homes.
The council says the "proof is in the pudding", with the private market already responding to the housing crisis as well as council initiatives aimed at enabling 10,000 new homes by 2050. The council had issued 90 new dwelling consents in the quarter to September 2021. That compared to 42 in the same period last year and a 10-year average of 41.
Contractors have broken ground on a new lifestyle village along Pukehangi Rd. Photo / Supplied
Freedom Lifestyle Villages managing director Jacob van Het Wout said the village would be for people looking to live in affordable, efficient and safe communities.
"The Freedom vision is affordable lifestyle retirement developments for New Zealanders over 50.
"Our fees are based on the selling price, not the entry price, which is prevailing among the other retirement villages."
Van Het Wout said the company's affordable housing model mainly catered for younger retirees looking for an active and independent lifestyle and meant the village would not provide care facilities.
"A large percentage of our residents work part-time or full-time."
Another characteristic of the Freedom Lifestyle Village model is that homeowners can benefit from the sale of their unit if they decide to move on.
"Our village model is such that the residents enjoy the capital gains from their houses should they decide to sell," van Het Wout said.
Van Het Wout did not want to estimate how much each property in the new development would cost.
"We are still undertaking valuation assessments but are targeting retail pricing at 75 per cent of comparable new housing for a similar size and specification on a fee simple residential title."
Rotorua Lakes Council district development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston. Photo / NZME
Rotorua Lakes Council District Development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston said unlocking land and enabling new developments was the number one priority for the council.
"Population projections tell us we are going to be seeing a lot more households wanting more compact living, modern homes that are low maintenance and which suit a modern lifestyle," he said.
"We know that developments like lifestyle villages, apartments and townhouses are the types of homes that a portion of our community will be looking for.
"The benefit of seeing these types of builds happen in Rotorua is that more of the traditional housing supply is opened up for people looking to enter the market."
Gaston said enabling developments such as the Freedom Lifestyle Village was a key priority for the council.
"We want to open up as much land as possible for greenfield development, while also enabling new builds in already developed areas, making the most of the amenities and infrastructure that we already have in place."
Rotorua MP Todd McClay. Photo / NZME
McClay said the development was really good news for the city.
"It's great to see the private sector delivering houses as quickly as the council will let them."
McClay congratulated the council on granting the consent and encouraged them to streamline and speed up the consent process for future developments.
"It's only a scratch on the surface but it is an important step."
McClay said, in his opinion, the solution for the housing crisis was for more private sector developers to step in.
Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick said the new lifestyle village was great news.
"It is a substantial development that will provide another option for people and adds to the momentum we are starting to see, with work underway on a number of residential developments right now.
"We need housing of all types in Rotorua and our council has committed to some significant targets, working in collaboration and partnership with iwi, landowners and developers and central government on multiple fronts to facilitate and enable more housing."
Freedom Lifestyle Villages is a wholly New Zealand-owned private company, with completed villages in Pāpāmoa, Cambridge and Matamata.
