Affordable home project starting soon

By Frank Neill

New Zealand’s first private development dedicated to getting first home buyers on the property ladder is about to be constructed in Wainuiomata.

Called Koru K inga, the new development is being built by Koru Homes New Zealand.

The development will deliver 51 new homes in Gawler Grove and ground work is scheduled to start soon.

“We are just waiting for Greater Wellington Regional Council to give us winter works approval for the ground work,” says Adrian Chooi, the founder of Koru Homes NZ.

“As soon as that come through we will be started,” he says, adding that the council had said it would happen by the end of the month.

“If they grant us consent we will be really grateful because then people will be able to move into the first homes by the end of the year.”

It will also bring to an end “all sorts of delays – from councils, civil works contractors and building contractors” for a project that has been two years to date in the making.

Mr Chooi’s main aim is to provide housing for people who otherwise could not afford to buy.

The 51 homes in Koru K inga will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and parking. They are 118 square metres.

They will feature spacious open floor plans and quality liveable indoor and outdoor spaces.

They will go on the market with an asking price of $650,000.

Local real estate agents had told him that these new homes are the “best value in Lower Hutt,” Mr Chooi says.

“There are so many people who can’t afford to buy a home.

“We want to help them build equity and build their future. I’d like as many people as possible to get that opportunity.”

The project, he says “is community focused. It is first home buyer focused.”

Two new streets are part of Koru K inga, and they were given names by the Wainuiomata Community Board at its 19 April meeting.

One street will be named Maria Lomax Way, after the prominent Wainuiomata resident who, among other things, was among the original group of volunteers that established Te Pukeatua, New Zealand’s first K hanga Reo.

The other street will be named Te Ara o T pokopoko, named after two prominent peaks that separate the Wairarapa and Te Whanganui a Tara.

Once the regional council’s consent to carry out the earthworks during winter is finalised, Bryce O’Sullivan Contractors (Bosco) will begin the first stage of the Koru K inga development.