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Home / Entertainment

The Block NZ - Villa Wars become Grammar wars

Russell Blackstock
By Russell Blackstock, Cherie Howie
Senior Reporter·NZME.·
21 Nov, 2015 03:12 AM4 mins to read

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The house renovated by New Plymouth couple Cat Glass and Jeremy Hill (left) is inside the Grammar zone. Photo / Doug Sherring

The house renovated by New Plymouth couple Cat Glass and Jeremy Hill (left) is inside the Grammar zone. Photo / Doug Sherring

A second couple on The Block NZ: Villa Wars have snared a lucrative school zoning edge.

Fans of the latest series of the popular show learned last month just one of the four Sandringham villas - the Renfrew Ave house being renovated by Christchurch couple Brooke Thompson and Mitch Davies - was in the profitable Mt Albert Grammar zone, an address with the potential to boost the sale price by more than $120,000.

The show revealed the three remaining relocated villas were on Haig Ave, which falls in the Mt Roskill Grammar zone.

Research carried out by Bayleys Real Estate this year showed there was a $127,400 difference on either side of the two co-ed grammar school boundaries, based on median house sales between 2012 and 2014. Realtors have also confirmed school zones played a big part in properties commanding top-dollar.

But the Cantabs' advantage has been brief.

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Auckland Council confirmed this week the villa next door - a corner section property renovated by popular New Plymouth couple Cat Glass and Jeremy Hill - has also been given a Renfrew Ave address.

Mt Albert Grammar spokeswoman Estelle Sarney confirmed that meant the property now fell within the school's zone.

"We accept any child who lives in our zone. If an address is changed in this way, there would be no extra conditions applied by us, as long as the standard enrolment requirements are met."

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MediaWorks spokeswoman Holly Vandenberg would only say that fans should "keep watching and see what happens in the show".

Auckland Council building support manager Pam Styles said street numbers were allocated according to the street that each house uses as its main entrance, so each property was easy to find for emergency services and visitors.

The Block NZ villas had their addresses allocated on October 12 and they became effective a month later.

"This is aligned to the addressing standards we have to adhere to. School zoning is not a part of our consideration for street numbering."

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The villas go under the hammer on December 6. The four sets of contestants are competing to win $100,000 on top of any profit made at auction.

Meanwhile, the doors to the four renovated villas on The Block NZ were thrown open to the public today, and thousands of fans took in the chance to take a peek inside.

Among the first there were friends Rose Brooke, 14, and Lucy Heron, 15, from Herne Bay.

"We have visited the houses the past two seasons. We are obsessed with the show and want to be on it when we are older," Rose said.

"We like all the teams this year but Cat and Jeremy are our favourites. We can't wait to see the houses for real."

Liainne Bickley travelled from Invercargill to tour the homes and also take in the Fleetwood Mac show at Mt Smart Stadium tomorrow night.

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"I'm hoping to get some inspiration and ideas for my own house," she said. "I was excited enough about going to see Fleetwood Mac but this is a bonus."

Fans were delighted to meet the contestants - Hamilton sisters Sarah and Minanne Kong, former Auckland police officer Hayden Campbell and his sales-rep fiancee Jamie Johns, Glass and Hill, plus Christchurch couple Brooke Thompson and Mitch Davies.

Glass, from the yellow team, said it was nerve racking to have the public cast an eye over their renovations.

"Seeing the lines of people outside getting bigger and bigger has been weird but amazing," she said.

"It is going to be interesting to see what people really think of our work. They kids coming through will tell us straight and we are relying on their honesty to gauge how well we are doing."

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