Tom Burrell (left) and Matt Perks have six houses to put in place and six more sections to develop. Photo / Bevan Conley
Tom Burrell (left) and Matt Perks have six houses to put in place and six more sections to develop. Photo / Bevan Conley
The young owners of M T Properties are looking to provide affordable homes in Whanganui and alleviate the housing shortage.
Tom Burrell, 27, and 23-year-old Matt Perks combined forces in mid-2021 because they had complementary skills in property development.
Their office is a house at 92 Alma Rd, which willeventually be sold. The rear of the section has been subdivided into two sections of 206 and 213 square metres.
Each will have a two-bedroom Clever Living transportable house placed on it, with a driveway from Alma Rd.
The two sections and their houses have both been sold.
Burrell and Perks want to provide affordable properties for first home buyers, but they haven't had many of those approach them.
"That just showed the gap in the market, between people who can afford to buy and people who can't. If any first home buyers approach us, we will sell to them instead of investors," Burrell said.
They like the quality of the Bunnings Clever Living Co. homes built in Whanganui by Shane Stone Builders, and said smaller houses were in demand.
They have another long thin residential section at 26 Quick Ave that's destined for four more of them. Like those in Alma Rd, all have been pre-sold.
A two-bedroom Clever Living home on a 200 square metre section sells for $519,000. Photo / Bevan Conley
A third large section at 32 Delhi Ave will have the existing house moved to another part of it and sold, and the remaining six sections sold. Each of those would be 400 to 500 square metres, Perks said, and reached from a central right of way.
Those owners would be able to choose what they build.
There was a shortage of such sections in Whanganui, Burrell said. Most sections were sold in house and land packages.
They're looking for more opportunities and believe demand will continue.
"Building materials are going up and, with inflation, house prices can't go down. There's still a shortage of houses," Perks said.
They employ a whole range of contractors and said Whanganui District Council had been good to work with.
Perks and Burrell met when they did the same property investment programme at Wealth Mentor Academy. Both got their start by buying and selling single houses.
Burrell is from New Plymouth and had a company called Inspiring Property. Perks is from Australia and his company was Perks Property. They chose Whanganui because they were told investment indicators here were good here, especially four years ago when property was more affordable.
"Early last year we realised we had the same vision for our companies and the exact opposite skill sets. There's a synergy in working together," Burrell said.
