Stoke Street Development

The Stoke Street development in Newtown, completed in 2009, was Wellington Housing Trust's first new build project – demolishing two adjacent older properties and building six homes for rent on the site. The homes were designed by Pelorus Architecture Ltd and built by Redican-Allwood builders.

Two of the six townhouses have four bedrooms, as there was a shortage of larger homes for social housing in the city. One of the bigger townhouses is also accessible for people with disabilities. The remaining four townhouses have two and three bedrooms for families on low incomes. The scheme was funded by the HNZC Housing Innovation Fund (HlF) and private sector funding from the Bank of New Zealand.

The trust wanted homes that were comfortable, inexpensive and healthy to live in. The insulation installed was above the required standards and the houses had efficient heating systems, double glazing and thermal curtains. The development was a challenging and sometimes frustrating process, held up by delays, construction problems and boundary and access issues with neighbours. However, much was learned and we have been able to apply the learning to other projects.