Hamilton housing demand sees Kāinga Ora import pre-built units from China

Patrick Dougherty, general manager of construction and innovation at Kāinga Ora. Photo / Michael Craig

Kāinga Ora is accelerating its public housing programme in Hamilton with 76 new homes built in China and installed across the city.

The units arrive in New Zealand with completed interiors, kitchens, bathrooms, floors, and even interior paintwork. They are then connected to foundations and services.

Kāinga Ora’s General manager of construction and innovation Patrick Dougherty said all the modular units had the required building consents and complied with New Zealand standards.

Production of the units was overseen by Kāinga Ora’s New Zealand-based build partner Tawera Group and inspections completed prior to the buildings leaving China to ensure New Zealand standards were met.

“We are continually innovating and using different construction methods to deliver these homes faster [and] increasingly we are using [off-site manufacturing] to speed up housing delivery.”

Kāinga Ora was also increasing the public housing supply in the Waikato through redeveloping properties they already owned, buying land and partnering with developers to build homes, and purchasing newly built developments.

In comparison to many international building industries, New Zealand’s use of off-site manufacturing was small with only about 10 per cent of the country’s builds using those techniques. In Sweden, 80 per cent of buildings are built off-site, Finland 50 per cent and the USA 30 per cent.

Dougherty said the amount of off-site manufacturing was expected to rise to 12 per cent by the end of June 2024 for public housing developments across the country.

The inside living room space of a modular unit that is pre-built in China, and ready to be serviced on-site in the Waikato. Photo / Kāinga Ora

The 76 new homes were due to be completed between March and October, 2024.

Tawera Group public housing projects in Hamilton

• Aileen Pl, Nawton
• College Pl, Chartwell
• Crawshaw Dr, Nawton
• Holland Rd, Fairfield
• 6 Davey Pl, Fairfield
• Peacockes Rd, Peacocke
• Reuben Pl, Nawton
• Stokes Cres, Maeroa

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.

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