Auckland Bunnings unveils its first $86k flat pack home

It took just three months for a $AU86,400 Bunnings’ flat pack to become a house in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga using a new construction system launched by the retailer.

In a challenge to traditional house-building methods, Bunnings has begun selling flat pack homes into New Zealand under its own Clever Living Co. brand, reports the NZ Herald.

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Trent Building Solutions erected the two-bedroom 83sq m stand-alone home.

The north-facing weatherboard house is the Suffolk design and has a separate laundry with walk-in linen storage cupboard, audio speakers in light bulbs, security camera system installed in outdoor lights and bathroom with separate bath and shower.

Builders Matt Cross and Tristin Hapelt of Trent assembled the flat packs on site, the large orders arriving via a series of trucks.

“You wouldn’t know,” said Cross, referring to the new house looking no different from those built via traditional methods or techniques. “This is the first one we’ve done in Auckland.”

Other builders have put up the homes in their yards and then had them trucked to sites.

“It’s portable and can be trucked anywhere around the country,” said Cross of the almost completed Onehunga house, yet to have some painting finished and then to be landscaped.

The $91,278 flat pack price does not include GST or earthworks, cost of the land, consenting costs by a territorial authority or connections to services including power, sewage and stormwater.

Cross said the project had been straightforward and the finished house would be rented out.

All doors and windows are double-glazed, the kitchen has a timber overlay floor, the roof slopes on an 8-degree angle and the cladding is fibre cement, he said.

Des Bickerton, Bunnings’ New Zealand commercial manager, said demand for the flat pack homes had grown in the year since the launch and more than 50 flat pack homes had been sold.

“A lack of quality and affordable housing options has seen the Clever Living Co. range be really well received as an affordable option,” he said.

“With our partners, we have developed a number of different design packages with the Angus three-bedroom, two-bathroom 96sq m design being the most popular, particularly among retirees and first home buyers with young children,” Bickerton said.

“We did a lot of homework. The early result is encouraging and as we get more feedback from customers and our builder partners, we expect to make a few subtle changes over the coming years to improve the offer,” he said.

The Bunning’s flat pack houses are available only in New Zealand.

This article originally appeared on NZ Herald and was reproduced with permission

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