150 new homes coming soon
In Flaxmere, Hastings District Council is making steady progress to prepare Council-owned land for 150 new top-quality and affordable homes. Council put out the call for developers with the necessary track record, experience, capability and capacity to submit formal proposals to build the houses at three sites, once the civil construction works are complete from 2023:
- 30 Swansea Rd (behind the Flaxmere Village shops)
- 244 Flaxmere Ave
- 72 Caernarvon Dr (next to the Flaxmere College sports fields)
The design of these new homes will follow best practice urban design and subdivision guidelines. The new subdivisions will include trees, indented parking and modern street lighting.
If you're keen to buy one of these Flaxmere homes, register your interest here.
Progress updates
244 Flaxmere Ave
Council has designed a concept plan on land it owns at 244 Flaxmere Ave that includes a mix of individual lots and super-lots. A super-lot is a large land parcel that is able to be further subdivided by our development partners to build a variety of homes to suit the diverse community of Flaxmere. On July 1, 2023, the community and whānau joined Hastings District Council to celebrate the completion of groundworks for this new subdivision, including the new road Whakaruru Crescent. The road is named after long-time Flaxmere advocate Steve Whakaruru who played a big part in the development of Te Aranga Marae. The site will provide approximately 46 homes, dependent on how the development partners decide to develop the super lots. The homes must be new, safe, warm, affordable, quality homes for our first home buyers. We anticipate the first homes being constructed in late 2023.
72 Caernarvon Drive
Owned by Council and often referred to as the Gumtree block, Council’s concept plan for this area provides seven super-lots and a neighbourhood park. The infrastructure and roading work is due to be completed in the first half of 2024. This site will provide approximately 77 homes, dependent on how the development partners decide to develop it. The homes must be new, safe, warm, affordable, quality homes for our first home buyers. We anticipate the first homes being constructed in late 2024.
30 Swansea Rd
On this Council-owned land the concept plan includes two residential super-lots and two commercial sites. Civil works for the residential lots are almost complete, with the contractor finishing on site in late 2023, followed by some finishing touches. Here, there’s capacity for about 42 homes, which must be new, safe, warm, affordable, quality homes for our first home buyers. We anticipate the first homes being constructed in mid 2024.
Q&As
These are some initial plans council created as a guideline for developers:
- 244 Flaxmere Avenue (PDF | 1.9 MB)
- 30 Swansea Road (behind the Flaxmere Village shops) (PDF | 11 MB)
- 72 Caernarvon Drive (next to the Flaxmere College sports fields) (PDF | 1.1 MB)
At 244 Flaxmere Avenue (about 46 homes)
Behind the Flaxmere Village Shops (about 42 homes)
Next to the Flaxmere College sports fields (about 77 homes)
The exact number of homes in each area will depend on the final detailed design.
Because Hastings District Council owns the land, it can put rules around the types of homes that can be built on them.
When the new Tarbet St sections (also Council-owned) were sold to first home buyers, the new owners had to agree to using brick, tile and aluminium joinery (meaning they will be warm and weather-tight, and to minimum garaging and outdoor areas. A similar formula will be used for the next three areas.
Council has a number of ways it can make this happen. In Tarbet St, the sections were only sold to people who did not already own a home (so first home buyer/people renting), and the new owners had to agree to live in them for a minimum of five years. Those conditions meant landlords and investors could not buy them. The buyers still needed to have an income that meant they could get a loan from a bank and pay it off.
With the next three developments (above), Council is talking to charitable housing trusts. They help low-income families to buy their own home so they don’t need to borrow so much money from a bank. There are various options, e.g. shared ownership (the trust owns the house with the family) or rent-to-own (the family pays rent with part of the rent paying off the home). The three new developments will have a mix of options.
