Mosgiel sees building boom

An estimated $70 million worth of new homes have been built in Mosgiel since 2012 and, with more subdivisions set to be unveiled, the building boom seems likely to continue.

Figures from the Dunedin City Council show 227 consents to build homes in Mosgiel have been issued since January 2012. In total, there were 785 consents approved for new homes in the greater Dunedin area for the same period.

According to Statistics New Zealand, the average cost of building a home in Mosgiel in the past year was just over $300,000, meaning

just under $70 million was spent on residential building since 2012.

Census figures released earlier this year show Mosgiel and its surrounding areas had the largest growth in the city, increasing its population by 7.6% to 16,503 since 2006.

With other subdivisions in town set to open, the building trend appears likely to continue.

Willowridge Developments Ltd development manager Allan Dippie said Mosgiel seemed to be the place to build in the Dunedin area. The company had developed several subdivisions in Central Otago and the Heathfield subdivision in Mosgiel.

He said there was nothing like a new home, and there were positive signs in Mosgiel for development.

''I think it is set to continue for quite some time.''

Dunedin City Council building services manager Neil McLeod said the council could not predict whether it would continue because they were at the tail end of the process.

He said if developers continued to set up subdivisions, they must think the sections would sell, but he could not comment himself.

However, he said the boom continued to keep city council staff very busy.

''We still seem to be getting plenty of consents in Mosgiel.''

He said it was primarily to do with the availability of land in Mosgiel.

The new subdivisions had provided areas for new houses to go up. Such areas were not available in Dunedin.

He said Mosgiel seemed to be the biggest growing residential area, with very little industrial growth in comparison.

The city council had some difficulty in dealing with the huge number of building consent applications that came in, and they were inconsistent.

''You can get two one week and 20 the next,'' he said.

At the busier stages, city council staff sent building consent applications to other places that could issue them, in the lower South Island and even the North Island.

Mr McLeod said council staff had to do this a lot. The past couple of weeks had been ''very busy''.

He said there was a quiet spell about five or six weeks ago, but in the past three weeks it had taken off again.

''There is no predicting it.''

Mosgiel Taieri Community Board chairman Bill Feather said he was very happy with what the boom meant for the area and suggested an exciting future for the community.

''It's probably an indication of what is yet to come.''

Bridget Rutherford

 

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