Tony’s latest regional report supports my view that the Waikato region is not turning into townhouses despite the fears of the local councils here, and the reason I believe Hamilton City Council put orders on over 6500 homes in Hamilton City meaning they can’t do anything without a resource consent. The spurious reason for the orders is ‘heritage’ and ’natural significance’, yet the methodology used and the proof shown are extremely poor and will not stand up in court, something we will soon test.
Hamilton’s average dwelling size is now 170m2 compared to Auckland’s average of 140m2. This clearly shows that Auckland is building far more townhouses than Hamilton on average. While many will say “that’s good, I want a section” – that’s a narrow view and doesn’t take into account the fact that we need affordable housing for workers; supermarket shelves don’t stack themselves and schools need teachers; these people can’t afford to buy standalone homes anymore.
John Kenel
Assured Property
