Land could house 91 sections
‘‘This will make new home building for a first home buyer more achievable.’’ Dan Gallagher
New Zealand Certified Builders Mid and South Canterbury president
The owner of an 11-hectare block of land on the edge of Timaru has decided to sell it after more than 50 years so it can be developed into a residential subdivision.
Former earth moving and drainage contractor Terry O’Neill, has already subdivided 3.95ha for residential development on the land which sits behind Quarry Rd, at Watlington.
O’Neill said the mainly flat land, which is located less than five minutes from the town centre, was suitable for housing and would accommodate 91, 600-square-metre sections.
A significant drop in the number of new residential dwelling building consents in the Timaru District in the past five years, has been linked to a shortage of land available for new sections.
Figures released by Stats NZ last week show the number of consents for new homes was down from 249 in the year to July 31, 2016, to 171 in the year to July 31, 2020.
Following the release of the figures, Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Timaru ambassador Julian Blanchard told Stuff a shortage in the supply of land for new houses had led to the fall in new consents.
‘‘There has been, for a number of years, a shortage of available land to build on.’’
O’Neill has owned the land behind Quarry Rd since the late 1960s but is happy to see it sold.
‘‘I’m not sad to see the land go. It’s just time for it,’’ O’Neill said.
O’Neill said ill health had forced him to shelve plans to develop the land himself, after he had already developed 13 sections on the south side in 2007.
‘‘It has been designed ... to be subdivided since the 1960s.’’
O’Neill said he had bought the land, which he originally purchased with a business partner, to farm and has had ‘‘lots of fun’’ with it over the 50 years he has owned it.
‘‘We have had to fence it off, and develop it all over the years.’’
The land went up for auction in the late 1960s, and on the day of bidding there was only one other person looking at the property, O’Neill said.
‘‘When bidding started she turned to us and said: I am only here for a look.
‘‘We never put a bid in and since it was an estate, they had to get rid of it so we negotiated as noone else was interested.’’
O’Neill said he decided to sell the land as it ‘‘did not work’’ for his two children – a son in Cromwell and daughter in Queenstown.
‘‘My daughter was involved in the development in 2007 but now it is no good for her to be running up and down.’’
The land is subdivided into two titles, with about 3.95ha already zoned for residential development.
The other 6.74ha was still zoned rural, he said. ‘‘Consents for the 6.74ha side have been submitted to the Timaru District Council to be rezoned from rural to residential.’’
New Zealand Certified Builders Mid and South Canterbury president Dan Gallagher welcomed the availability of more land for development in Timaru.
‘‘This could potentially help with land shortages,’’ Gallagher said.
He said in terms of service sites, he was looking forward to seeing how the O’Neill Rd one developed.
The development would succeed if the 91 sections were reasonably priced, he said.
‘‘This will make new home building for a first home buyer more achievable.’’
Sales agent Michael Molloy, of First National Reid & Wilson, said any potential developer should look to target the retired, semiretired and first-time home buyers markets as they were not well catered to in Timaru.
Molloy said they were open to offers for the land and were showing a price guide of $3.5 million which was dependent on which stage a developer entered the project.
‘‘The more we do to the development, the further up the price will rise.
‘‘We are basing that on a proposed 91-section subdivision, averaging probably about 550 to 600 square metres with a return of about $14.9m.’’
Molloy said prime residential land was rarely sold in Timaru and he had already received interest from as far afield as Auckland.
‘‘It is just continuing with the council to get the rezoning done.
‘‘It will hopefully be done before the end of October.’’
‘‘I’m not sad to see the land go. It’s just time for it.’’ Terry O’Neill