When Yibai helped his parents research new home options, they soon realised building a new home with an architect was going to be expensive. Considering a few options from a price perspective, they decided on a prefabricated home. This option also offered a reasonably quick turnaround.
Yibai looked at various companies online, phoned a few and met with some of these, including Able Spaces.
First Impressions And Choosing Able Spaces
When Yibai met with other companies, he also found them to be reasonably friendly but said it was a quick decision to go with Able Spaces.
Yibai reflected that his first meeting with Norma “went very well. We shared our requirements with her and she basically picked a house to suit our required size and budget. She made it easy.”
Yibai’s parents were in Paraparaumu and Yibai felt Able Spaces being based in Wellington was also a real advantage.
Important Considerations
Yibai’s parents’ existing house had two stories and a very high staircase, posing challenges now they were in their 80s. It was important their new home was all on one level.
Budget was also an important consideration. They kept most of what Norma recommended which came with the home as standard, including the kitchen and shower. The only modification they made was a slight change to the dimensions of the home due to the particular site they were building on, requiring the home to be a little longer and slightly narrower to fit well into the area.
They chose to have their home built on site (Able Space’s kitset homes option) and selected their own builder.
Navigating Challenges
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the build was not as quick as they had hoped, though Yibai was quick to point out this was through no fault of Able Spaces.
Yibai explained, “We had a problem with the local council. Initially the council issued the building permit, then a week later they revoked it because the building was too close to reserve land next door. We didn’t know we were right next to a reserve. The council wasn’t aware of it at first either as they initially gave us the building permit. There were a lot of emails that went back and forth. Thankfully Norma helped us with that.” It was a frustrating time for the family, taking three months to get the building permit resolved.
Yibai explained further, “Apparently the standard requirement if you are building a house next to a reserve is five metres from the boundary, which was not possible for us. We changed the size of the house slightly and also applied for an exemption to go back to the original boundary requirement of one metre off the boundary. The council needed to ensure there were no native trees on that section of land, things like that, to give the approval.”
Unfortunately, there was another hurdle as well. There was a swimming pool next to a retaining wall. The swimming pool had been built by the previous owners and had not been consented. The same went for the retaining wall. When the family attempted to build a house right next to it, this flagged another problem. Thankfully Yibai explained, they were able to work with their builder to get these two structures consented.
Yibai’s parent’s home was completed in December 2024, just over a year after Yibai first contacted Norma.
Overall, How Would You Rate Able Spaces?
“Top notch company. Norma was fantastic. When I started, I really didn’t know much about it and I totally underestimated the difficulty of the project. Norma basically guided me through it and was very helpful. Otherwise, I would have had no clue. There were so many requirements. I was a bit naïve, I think. I thought it was as simple as, just get a builder and put the house on.”
“Able Spaces were great to deal with. I had a lot of questions. They usually always answered pretty quickly and were really helpful. The delivery of building materials happened promptly once the council consents were resolved.”
“The house is very well-designed, and we are thrilled with it. I’m in the home currently as my parents are overseas. I have been living there for almost a month and I’m very happy with the quality. It’s a great buy.”
