Papamoa to offer cheaper homes

Affordable housing will help shape the development of a new town at Papamoa expected to be home to at least 7300 people.

Affordable housing will help shape the development of a new town at Papamoa expected to be home to at least 7300 people.

Developers and landowners met with the Tauranga City Council yesterday to discuss big picture planning for the largely undeveloped block called Wairakei. The confidential meeting, involving some of the biggest names in the city's development industry, was to achieve a collaborative approach to infrastructure. Development of the first subdivision out of the blocks, Golden Sands, was rocketing ahead with only 14 of the 556 sections left to sell. It included large numbers of homes that met the $350,000 to $450,000 house price limits for the Government's promised HomeStart grant which will double support for low and middle income couples building their first home.

Mayor Stuart Crosby said the timing of development was critical so that no one was left without services.

He said the council was still assessing which parcels of land around Tauranga would be selected as special housing areas. The city's housing affordability issue may see the council decide to allow more homes to be built at Wairakei sooner rather than later.

The good news was that developers were already building affordable homes, with more planned as part of future housing mixes, he said.

Jeff Fletcher of the Property Developers' Forum said the high level briefing was so the council could hear the aspirations of Wairakei's developers and landowners. "Some may head down the special housing areas path and some may not."

Mr Fletcher said there would be a range of different housing products and prices.

The key thing was to deliver infrastructure in a way that was viable for the council and met the staged roll-out of subdivisions. Te Okuroa Drive was arguable the major piece of infrastructure for Wairakei, with stage one to Emerald Shores Drive due to be completed by 2018.

Bill Miller of Golden Sands' Bluehaven Management said their basic house and land packages started at $340,000 for a two-bedroom home, $380,000 for three bedrooms and $450,000 for four bedrooms. "Virtually all of our stock will be available for first home buyers ..."

Wairakei

Size: 360 hectares

Boundaries: Parton Rd, Tauranga Eastern Link & where built-up Papamoa ends

Homes once fully developed: 3170

Highest densities: In the town centre and neighbourhood centres