First KiwiBuild block for city
‘‘We are about 3000 houses short, based on what we need today. And that’s not even accounting for the growth projected over the next 20 years as well.’’ Justin Lester, Wellington mayor
The Government has announced the first batch of KiwiBuild homes for central Wellington – an apartment block in Mt Cook.
The six-storey block on King St will feature 44 two-bedroom apartments priced between $450,000 and $500,000, with another 50 to be sold on the private market. The Government expects the homes to be completed by 2020.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford has also announced a second KiwiBuild project for the Hutt region – a repurposed building in High St, Lower Hutt, which will house 20 apartments.
Both developments come as part of the ‘‘buying off-the-plans’’ portion of the scheme in which the Government underwrites a private developer, in this case The Wellington Company’s Ian Cassels.
KiwiBuild is the Government’s plan to build 100,000 affordable homes in the next decade, with half in Auckland. Each home outside of Auckland or Queenstown has a price cap of $500,000. Prospective buyers must earn under $180,000 as a couple or $120,000 as an individual.
More than 10,000 people in Wellington have expressed some interest in buying a KiwiBuild property, as prices in the region have shot up at roughly twice the national average in the last year.
But getting ‘‘on the ballot’’ for a KiwiBuild home involves much more than an expression of interest, and only 287 people nationwide have completed the arduous pre-qualification process, which requires a ready-to-go loan from the bank and a legal declaration that the owner will not on-sell the home in the next three years.
‘‘The King St project is the first KiwiBuild development for central Wellington. It is located in a sought-after central Wellington area between the hospital and Massey University,’’ Twyford said.
‘‘KiwiBuild is gaining momentum with other big developers in the process of making deals on developments around New Zealand. It’s great to see more big names getting on board and contracts getting over the line.’’
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester welcomed the news. ‘‘We are about 3000 houses short, based on what we need today. And that’s not even accounting for the growth projected over the next 20 years as well.’’ Lester said apartments were a good stepping stone onto the property ladder for younger buyers finding themselves increasingly priced out of the suburbs around Wellington. ‘‘You always have to start somewhere –
it’s never your dream home.’’
Cassels, who has developed property in Wellington for decades, said the apartments’ location was in an under-used section of the city around the Basin Reserve.
‘‘It is a little bit of a mediocre wasteland that hasn’t really got much of anything else going on other than the odd panelbeater. There’s just bits and pieces of opportunist renting – the stuff that lands places where not much else is going on,’’ Cassels said.
But given its proximity to Massey University, the CBD, the hospital, and Countdown Newtown, it was ‘‘pretty much paradise’’ for amenities.
Cassels said he probably would have been able to develop the apartment block without the underwriting help from KiwiBuild but it would have taken longer and the apartments might have looked quite different.
It was easier to secure lending with the KiwiBuild underwrite and Cassels said there was a lot more his company would end up doing with KiwiBuild.
The announcement comes during a slightly rocky period for the Government’s flagship policy.
Twyford has come under fire for shifting the penalties on people who sell the home within three years without involving the prime minister in the decision.
Some KiwiBuild homes in Wanaka and South Auckland have also struggled to find buyers in the first round of balloting.
But Cassels was confident the homes would sell easily, as he saw them as a great deal.
Cassels is also repurposing a building and laneway on High Street in Lower Hutt. The site will have 20 apartments – one onebedroom, 15 two-bedroom and four three-bedroom homes.