Celebrating two years of bringing more prefab homes
More people owning homes, more first-time home buyers accessing the market, more people able to make headway on the housing market – one Southland construction business is celebrating two years of helping people into prebuilt homes with the Westpac Prebuilt home loan product.
It’s been two years since Exceed Homes teamed up with Westpac NZ to offer a home loan product specifically for prebuilt homes, a move that has made a “huge impact” on the Southland company.
Exceed Homes specialises in prebuilt homes – prefabs. At their Invercargill site, homes are constructed in close liaison with clients, fully up to spec. And since teaming up with Westpac, Exceed Homes’ business has gone from strength to strength.
During the past two years, Exceed Homes owners Jade McNamara and Sarah Bohm, with their team, have built 17 houses for clients who have used the Westpac Prebuilt home loan product to realise their homeowner dreams.
“Especially on the back of Covid it was a great feeling for us to know we had these homes in the pipeline,” McNamara says.
Of those 17, a significant number were for first time home buyers. Westpac NZ is the only major bank in New Zealand to offer a dedicated home loan product of this kind on a prefab dwelling.
“Getting on the housing market is challenging; prefabs are a fantastic way for us to help first home buyers get there.
“Our team is really pleased that we can be part of the solution with prefabs being significantly cheaper than existing homes and on-site builds,” McNamara says.
A surge of people looking to build and own homes, plus the relentless pressure of the housing market had meant prefab homes were now more popular than ever.
Having been in the construction business for 18 years, it was during the past few that things had really taken off and the reputation of prebuilt homes was shifting, Bohm says.
“The perception that prefabs are somehow ‘lesser’ is eroding away,” she says.
In fact, prefab homes, which are completely customisable, are built to a set of code and standards that ensures their durability and quality. Once moved on-site from the Exceed Homes yard, houses are “installed” and turnkey for their new owners to enjoy.
Westpac NZ Housing Lead Peter Brooking says offsite-manufactured homes address key issues around New Zealand’s housing shortage and a lack of affordable construction options.
“When we launched our Prebuilt product in 2019, industry body PrefabNZ estimated a prefab build could shave up to 15% off total construction costs and up to 60% off build times,” Brooking says.
“Our Prefab offering removes the complexity around security of the house while it’s being built in a factory. We have security before the house is delivered, which gives peace of mind to buyers and builders partnering on the build.”
Westpac’s Invercargill-based Personal Manager Janelle Greene has been working with Exceed Homes as part of the Westpac Prebuilt home loan product, connecting home buyers with the scheme. Being able to help people realise their home ownership dreams had been quite special, she says.
“Jade and Sarah have a unique way of being able to supply the housing market with more homes, so being able to connect our customers to additional avenues of home ownership is really rewarding for us,” she says.
Looking ahead, McNamara, Bohm and the Exceed Homes team have a large list of builds ahead of them and were optimistic about the months ahead.
“It’s going to be relentlessly busy and we’re always on the lookout to bring on new builders but we’re pretty excited about bringing our clients’ visions to life,” Bohm says.
