Shane Stone and Doreen Loader are providing transportable houses in the Whanganui region. Photo / Laurel Stowell
Shane Stone and Doreen Loader are providing transportable houses in the Whanganui region. Photo / Laurel Stowell
In the midst of a housing shortage, a range of houses being built in Whanganui can be ready for trucking to a section in 14 to 16 weeks.
Shane Stone Builders has used its staff and yard to build four houses, designed by Bunnings, in the past year and has orders for six more.
Hardware chain Bunnings Warehouse has chosen Shane Stone to provide its Clever Living Co homes in this region.
"You have got to be invited to do it," Stone said.
The company started work on a show home in November, and since then it has sent four houses away on the backs of trucks. The show home went to Ohakune, another house went to Turangi, one to Marton and one to Whanganui's Somme Pde last week.
Stone has orders for others to be located in Fitzherbert Ave and at Waipipi, and a developer wants four more in Ohakune.
A Clever Living "Angus" home arrived in Somme Pde on December 4. Photo / supplied
Doreen Loader is the project manager for new homes for Shane Stone Builders.
It has not advertised the Clever Living houses, but she gets one or two inquiries a day about them. The business could be building more if those inquiring had land ready.
"The biggest difficulty is finding land," Stone said.
The houses come in set designs. The most popular is the Angus, with three bedrooms, a bathroom and an en suite. It is 95.8 square metres and fully finished, right down to carpet and cooktop. All the products used in making the houses are provided by Bunnings.
"They're a very clever design, with no wasted space," Loader said.
Delivered to a "reasonably easy" section within 50km, the Angus costs $247,000 including GST. The frames and trusses are trucked from Capital Precut Solutions in Masterton.
"It's like clockwork," Loader said.
"There's an inclusions list, with three vanity colours, a choice of gas or electric cooktops and two or three colours of door handles and hardware."
The frames are made of laminated timber, and the weatherboard is fibre cement.
A Clever Living Co home is trucked from Whanganui to Marton. Photo / Supplied
The cheapest design is a 40sq m home that costs $155,000 including GST.
Stone's business premises in Wilson St has enough space to build eight of the houses. His 45 staff do a full range of off-site building work, as well as putting the Clever Living designs together.
Local subcontractors look after the plumbing, plastering, electrical and so on. The new owners do outdoor extras and hook the houses up to water and other services.
