Housing projects – what you need to know

November 2021

There has been a lot of news about the homes that are going to be built in Flaxmere. There are some common questions Flaxmere people are asking about the project, and we’re doing our best to answer them.

Where are the three areas and how many homes will be on them?

Behind the Flaxmere Village Shops (about 40 homes)

Next to the Flaxmere College sports fields (about 60 homes)

At 244 Flaxmere Avenue (about 45 homes)

The exact number of homes in each area will depend on the final detailed design.

When will the sites be ready for homes to be built on them?

At 244 Flaxmere Avenue – end of 2022

Behind the Flaxmere Village Shops – mid-2023

Next to the Flaxmere College sports fields – end of 2023

The time between now and then will be spent laying pipes for drinking water, storm water and waste water, putting in other infrastructure like power, building roads, and finalising who will build the homes and what those houses will look like.

How do we know they will be good houses?

Because Hastings District Council owns the land, it can put rules around the types of homes that can be built on them. The homes will have to be minimum six-star rated, which means they must exceed the standards set in the New Zealand Building Code. That means they will be, warm, weathertight and energy efficient.

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.

We are told these homes are for people who really need them and won’t be sold to landlords or developers. How can we be sure of that?

Council has a range of ways it can ensure this happens. In Tarbet St, the sections were only sold to people who did not already own a home (so first home buyers/people renting), and the new owners had to agree to live in them for a minimum of five years. Those conditions meant landlords and developers could not buy them.

The buyers still needed to have an income that meant they could get a loan from a ba