Moonlit move for new homes
A project that has benefited trade students and will help those in need of new homes has moved a step closer.
Under moonlight and street lamps, a 100-squaremetre Habitat for Humanity house was transported by truck on Thursday night from the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) site in Richmond to an interim storage area in Wakefield.
The house is one of three to house families and individuals in Nelson Tasman.
Habitat for Humanity general manager Nick Clarke said the houses were built over the last year on the NMIT Richmond campus by pre-trade students.
‘‘It had a really nice synergy. These houses are going to benefit those who need decent homes in the community and here we have people coming in from the community building those homes and learning skills along the way.’’
He said involving NMIT ‘‘resulted in a saving’’, especially during Covid when the price of building homes had gone up exponentially. ‘‘We’ve had suppliers helping out. There’s been a huge amount of goodwill extended for the completion of these homes, which is wonderful.’’
The houses were yet to have some details confirmed, including their final sites, who they would be allotted to and if they would be for a home ownership or affordable rental model, he said, but there was a wait list for both.
He said for the 12 homes in Stoke, there had been 88 applications for home ownership, which was ‘‘exceptionally high’’, reflective of the housing needs across Nelson.
The Habitat for Humanity homes require finishing touches, including internal painting, floor covering and landscaping, by members of the community, and are often done by those moving into the homes.
Clarke said the three houses were ‘‘well-designed, nicely laid out and very, very light’’.
Building the houses was the largest construction project the NMIT team had taken on, NMIT chief executive Wayne Jackson said. ‘‘Traditionally the students have built one house, but in 2021 they took on three, three-bedroom houses for Habitat for Humanity Nelson. While that presented a challenge with additional materials and space required, there was also a larger cohort of 48 students available to complete the project.’’