How a build-to-rent developer is cutting costs by 30 percent

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Simplicity has about 1200 homes under construction or in design.
Photo: AFP

Is it possible to build homes faster, better and cheaper? One builder says it is.

KiwiSaver fund manager Simplicity’s building arm has opened its third build-to-rent development in Auckland’s Mt Albert completing 51 homes in 12 months, at a cost of about 30 percent less than average building costs.

The construction was completed in excess of the building code, Simplicity Living managing director Shane Brealey said.

He said a government decision to scrap the First Home Grants in favour of funding for social housing would make no difference to Simplicity.

“Dropping that subsidy and moving the money around to supply other entities isn’t going to affect us,” Brealey said.

“We’ve got our own abundance of funds and as long as we’re building our system to our price point, we will be more than busy with everything we’ve got in front of us.”

He said Simplicity had about 1200 homes under construction or in design, with an additional three or four sites lined up for development.

“So I just can’t see us having capacity to entertain doing any state builds.”

However, Brealey said other social housing developers could benefit from the subsidy, adding that Simplicity’s intellectual property had been shared with 70 other organisations, including many developers.

“We have a housing crisis in New Zealand, which cannot be solved without building many more homes. This shows other developers what’s possible,” Brealey said.

Simplicity’s homes were about 15 percent bigger than equivalent apartments, with extensive landscaping and a full suite of appliances, with long-term rental options.

The company completed 210 homes for long-term rent over the past two years, with another 878 in build and development.

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