Strong demand for sections in Rangitīkei towns Marton and Bulls

Bain Simpson (left) and Hayden Gould expect to have 500 Marton sections ready for house building over the next five years. Photo / Bevan Conley

About 700 new houses are planned or being built in the southern end of the Rangitīkei district, mayor Andy Watson says.

In Marton Bain Simpson and Hayden Gould, of Rangitīkei Development, expect to prepare about 500 sections for building over the next five years.

In Bulls KPA Properties managing director Adam Dekker has 160 sections planned across 27ha at the northwest end of town.

Meanwhile, smaller subdivisions are taking place and large town sections are being subdivided for infill housing.

The demand has been a surprise for Gould, who said no one expected this boom 10 years ago.

For Watson it has been "startling".

"We have received a series of incredible opportunities," he said.

Simpson and Gould started buying land within the Marton town boundary in 2019 after they looked to buy a second rental property and couldn't find a "decent affordable house".

They've been surprised by the demand.

"We thought we would sell 10 sections, not 80 in six months."

They have a full-time staff of eight who put in roads and connections at each subdivision. Then they sell the sections.

The first ones sold for $100,000, but prices have increased and sections now sell for $200,000. The buyers are from all over the North Island - from retirees to first home buyers.

"We take minimal deposit because our first home buyers don't have $15,000 in the bank. A lot of first home buyers that can't get on the market at Feilding and Palmerston North can here," Gould said.

The houses being built include GJ Gardner, Platinum and Latitude homes.

Rangitīkei's unemployment rate is very low. There are jobs going at freezing works, and more are expected from forestry industries.

Rangitīkei Development's Hereford Heights subdivision is reached from Bredins Line. It has 82 sections sold. There are 25 houses being built and 50 waiting on Land Information New Zealand for titles. Another 70 are planned.

There are 25 new houses going up in the Hereford Height subdivision, reached from Bredin's Line in Marton. Photo / Bevan Conley

Their second subdivision will be reached from Hendersons Line and their business has spent more than $1 million on machinery.

"As we complete each one we just move to the next block of land to develop," Simpson said.

The pair are also planning a hotel/motel and conference centre.

They are proud of the work they do. The roads are wide and curved, made of hot mix asphalt, with wide footpaths and "fancier" streetlights.

"We are doing it for ourselves and the district. There's got to be more in it than just ourselves," Simpson said.

Watson is thrilled that local developers are doing the job, and he said Bulls is also growing "dramatically". The biggest developer there is KPA Properties, a sister company to Humphries Construction.

Dekker said it has bought 27ha in three different plots. They will be developed in stages, with a first stage of 100 sections heading for resource consent now, and a second stage of 60 sections.

The sections will be sold as land or as design and build packages, or they will be used to build spec homes. The houses will range from duplex retiree buildings to high-end family homes - but the majority will probably be affordable family homes.

Rangitīkei will have the services to cope with this increase in population, Watson said.

The council is spending $11 million on upgrading its water supply. Eventually it will provide bore water to Marton residents, rather than the current mix of bore water and water from the dams on Tutaenui Stream.

It is putting in a pipeline to send wastewater to a new treatment plant in Bulls that will treat waste from both towns.

"We are doing all this ahead of the Three Waters.

"Some councils are waiting for the [Three Waters] entities. They will go onto a very, very long waiting list," Watson said.