Housing attitudes need to change

Michael Warmington laughed when he heard people say: “But aren’t they the slums of tomorrow?”

One of the original settlers of the Hobsonville Point development, now heading for its 10th anniversary, Warmington heard the saying often - and thinks many Aucklanders fail to understand the advantages of the shift in housing philosophy taking place in the city.

As traditional low-density, quarter-acre housing is being superceded by new builds – like Hobsonville Point’s medium-density development – Warmington says the “slum” remark shows how many people have yet to update their thinking.

“It made me realise just how many New Zealanders are out of touch when it comes to housing,” he says, adding that people who make that kind of remark often live in traditional housing areas which are, ironically, closer together and more intrusive than the carefully-planned and designed Hobsonville Point.

“Look at Ponsonby, for instance, a desirable area. But most houses have no garages and some are literally 500mm from the one next door.

“Compare that with what we have here – we are drenched in sun from morning till dusk; there is no one time of day where the sun isn’t hitting the house at some point.

“We have cleverly designed properties – designed in unison, with the whole development and people’s needs in mind, not just jamming in standalone houses right next to each other where no one cares about the effect on the place next door.

“The developers and designers made sure that whole streets and whole blocks were positioned so that they work with each other. They have good layouts and they’ve thought about things like line of sight so that you do not get a sense of that higher density – it’s been very cleverly designed.”

Michaeland Jeanne Warmington. Photo / Supplied

Warmington and partner Jeanne moved to Hobsonville Point in 2012 from their 4-bedroom home in Birkenhead, near the Chelsea sugar refinery. Their kids had left home and the homestead was beginning to require a lot of maintenance.

The original thinking was to downsize but, when they were looking, all the available 3-bedroom houses had been sold, so they opted for a 4-bedroom version which, at 210 sq m, was about the same size as their Birkenhead property.

“It’s been a great move,” he says, “and we are very happy. It really only happened because we knew someone who’d bought out here and we visited them and got a bit of a feel for the place. Jeanne was keen and that started me off.”

“When I go back to Birkenhead, I still really like it there but you can’t help but see things like the footpaths are old and rumpty, the houses are old; you really notice the difference.”

While they wanted a standalone home at Hobsonville, Warmington says he has also been impressed with the design and build of the terraced housing and apartments there: “I wasn’t all that keen on terraced housing as I’ve always thought you only get windows at either end, not in the sides. But those I’ve been in have been very cleverly designed and get plenty of light.”

Thethriving community garden at Hobsonville Point. Photo / Supplied

When they moved in there were only about 30 houses built (“and half of them were show homes”); now there are about 2300. Yet Warmington says other common misconceptions – that the settlement is miles away from anywhere and the number of people makes for a crowded atmosphere – couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I work in Glenfield – and that is only 7-8km away, an easy trip straight over the Greenhithe bridge and the Upper Harbour Drive,” he says. “But we are also close to beaches, the west, Takapuna, wherever.”

As for feeling crowded, he says the opposite is true: “We are great walkers and there are a lot of good walks around here – yet sometimes (though not so much in the summer) we hardly see a soul. As for neighbours, it’s interesting – I would see fewer neighbours now than I did in Birkenhead and there are no traffic problems, no queues, nothing like that – it’s been well planned.

“It might have something to do with the mix of housing styles – there are even tiny micro-homes here – and people with busy lifestyles but, again, we don’t get any kind of feeling of people being on top of us or around us all the time."

That said, Hobsonville Point also has a great sense of community. Michael and Jeanne have a plot in the community garden where they spend a lot of time: “That’s the thing – they haven’t just designed housing, they’ve designed a community.”

- This content was supplied by Kāinga Ora