Four Hewlett Rd homes become 36 units under the scheme. Photo / KiwiBuild
Four Hewlett Rd homes become 36 units under the scheme. Photo / KiwiBuild
Development work has started on a west Auckland site where 36 new KiwiBuild terraced units replace four stand-alone existing family homes.
In what could be a shock for neighbours of the quiet Hewlett Rd at Massey, the four existing homes built around the 1960s and 1970s were demolished and sitesamalgamated for an intensive first-home buyer affordable scheme called Hewlett Oasis.
Plans for Hewlett Oasis at Massey. Photo / Ozac
Hewlett Rd is near Westgate and Royal Heights and runs off Lincoln Park Ave and Waimumu Rd but the houses there was worth very little compared to the land value. For example, 24 Hewlett Rd is listed by Auckland Council as being worth $740,000 of which $495,000 is the land value.
Claire Jiang, the marketing coordinator for Ozac Architects which designed the new two-bedroom units, said all were planned to be sold for $600,000 and only to first-home owners eligible under the Government's affordable housing scheme.
All were being developed as KiwiBuild places in what she said was the first big scheme since the Government's re-set, she said.
Site works had begun at 18, 20, 22 and 24 Hewlett Rd, she said.
An Ozac subsidiary, Unispot, was the developer although the properties had been bought by Homeward Ltd, she said.
Unispot's directors and shareholders are Hong Liang of Campbells Bay and Qi Zhu of Remuera.
Megan Woods, Housing Minister, praised the Massey scheme and a new Te Atatu KiwiBuild programme.
"It's good to see KiwiBuild expanding into more parts of Auckland. The average house price in west Auckland rose to over $800,000 in recent years, but these developments show how the Government and private developers can work together to build homes for much more affordable prices.
As it was - 24 Hewlett Rd, Massey before work started. Photo / Google Maps
"The improvements we recently announced to Kiwibuild and our home buyer assistance programmes will mean more people can take the opportunity to make one of these homes their own," Woods said.
The new Te Atatu scheme is at 178 McLeod Rd where 12 one-bedroom units are rising as McLeod Quarter. Those places are being marketed from $465,000 to $480,000.
Julia Rust, sales manager of developer Leap, said that area has good transport links, parks and a strong community. Each new place would have a deck or outdoor area, she said.
A statement from KiwiBuild said more places were being built under the Government programme.
"KiwiBuild is accelerating with 120 sales in the past two and a half months, exceeding the 114 in the first full year of the programme," a spokesperson said today.
Four Hewlett Rd homes become 36 units under the scheme. Photo / KiwiBuild
"The first project on the North Shore has just 29 of its 72 homes still available after only six weeks on the market, even though the homes won't be complete until late 2020. A ballot for the first homes in Wellington saw over 200 applications for 44 homes."
The KiwiBuild reset made changes designed to help more buyers. One bedroom and studio buyers only have to live in them for one year not three, the statement said.
"From October 1, the First Home Grant - previously called the HomeStart Grant - will be up to $10,000 per eligible buyer of a new home, meaning multi-generational families or friends buying together can get more than the previous cap of $20,000.
"To access the First Home Grant and the First Home Loan, buyers will only need a 5 percent deposit, rather than the 10 percent previously required," the spokesperson said.
