Prefab homes built by Anglican diocese help to address Whanganui housing shortage

One of the prefab homes for Gonville being built in the Bedrock factory in Featherston.

Prefabricated homes designed for one or two people are appearing on Anglican Church land in Whanganui, with two in Castlecliff already tenanted.

They come from the Anglican Diocese of Wellington’s Bedrock housing programme, which operates a factory in Featherston.

Whanganui Anglican parish community engagement co-ordinator Craig Harris said the Castlecliff homes, at St Luke’s, were the first from the factory.

Four will be added to land next to St Peter’s church in Gonville, with another four planned for the All Saints site in Whanganui East.

“The first two for Gonville are on their way, and are being held at Central House Movers in Bulls,” Harris said.

“During the holidays, a bit of groundwork work is going on, but we’re expecting the four in Gonville to be tenanted by August.”

In all, 19 are planned for Whanganui.

Harris said each house cost about $300,000 to build, with funding coming from the diocese, rather than individual parishes.

“Transportable homes don’t work out to be too much cheaper than building on site, but the construction timeline is more predictable,” he said.

“They leave the factory and have everything in them, down to a dishwasher and heating units.

“Blow testing has been done on them, where the house is sealed up and air is blown into it to check for any leakage. There is next to none.”

He said the aim was to build 300 homes across the diocese, which stretches from Wellington to Ruapehu and South Taranaki.

Din Bandara says the project has a "concept of community".

Whanganui Anglican parish member Din Bandara, part of the project in Whanganui since its inception four years ago, said it had been a “slow burn” but the results were coming.

“After Covid-19, the cost of living went up and there was a lack of a particular kind of housing - one or two-bedroom units,” he said.

“It could be elderly downsizers, or young people or families stepping into rentals for the first time.

“We identified that gap early on.”

Bandara, manager of the Whanganui Community Foundation, said the diocese owned all Whanganui’s Anglican churches and the land they sat on, and had identified land that was not used enough.

“At St Peter’s, there is a big paddock between the church and [Gonville] school.

“I think it used to have a hall, but that burned down 30 or 40 years ago and the land has never been utilised.”

The project in Whanganui also had “the concept of community”, Bandara said.

“Several families who are part of the [St Peter’s] church live on Alma and Koromiko roads, and there is a real hope that there’ll be wraparound support for people who move in there.

“The plan is to identify those who are in real need of housing and might need a bit of extra support.”

Harris said rent for the Whanganui homes was at the lower end of the market, and tenants got a brand-new home.

Two homes are already tenanted at the St Luke's site in Castlecliff.

“They are set up so the energy costs for heating and air conditioning are really low.

“For us as a parish, this has been an exciting thing and everyone is really getting behind it.”

Solutions to Whanganui’s housing shortage had to be worked through collectively, Bandara said.

Originally, there were plans for two homes at the St Lawrence’s site in Aramoho.

“We sold the church to the artist Sue Cooke, who has done great work there and really cares for the building, but we came to an agreement about turning the car park into a couple of units,” he said.

“When we went to the [Whanganui District] council, they said we only had 370 square metres when we needed 400sqm.

“The council loved the concept but there are a number of inherited obstacles.”

Another example was people being fined for having front-yard cabins in Whanganui, he said.

“A commonsense approach is needed there because there is still a housing shortage in Whanganui.”

Earlier this month, Whanganui district councillor Kate Joblin said it seemed central government wanted to take its “hands off [housing] and leave it to the communities”.

The Anglican project was one example, she said.

“Funding, of course, is an issue, but wouldn’t it be great if the community stepped up even more and got involved in this space?

“It may be an opportunity.”

Harris said Bedrock could build homes for the commercial market in future, but that was not the project’s purpose.

“If we wanted to make money, we would be selling the land.

“This is about building affordable rental homes.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.