The country's most valuable state house is in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby and is worth almost $4m. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The country's most valuable state house sits on a large plot of land that cannot be subdivided because it is in one of Auckland's sought-after heritage areas.
The state house is a 1900s villa on a leafy street in the inner city suburb of Ponsonby and is worth close to $4 million.
It is a neighbourhood associated with celebrities from sailors to pop stars - last year, Lorde sold her luxury villa next door for $4.3m.
Auckland Council records show the state house is on 619 square metres of land and is subject to hefty development restrictions because it is in both a special character area and historic heritage area.
That means the land could not be subdivided and any changes to the villa would need council permission.
Data from Corelogic shows the five most valuable single dwelling homes in Kāinga Ora's portfolio are all worth more than $3.5m.
Building projects that would create more than 1000 state homes are on hold while Kāinga Ora reviews its portfolio, with decisions expected from July.
The agency also intends to sell about 900 homes nationally over the next 12-18 months - currently 49 state homes are on the market, of which 32 are in Auckland.
The money generated by selling off those properties would then be reinvested in more affordable areas.
The woman living in the country's most valuable state house this week told RNZ it should be sold, in part because she feels increasingly out of place in the upmarket suburb.
Anita Jones in front of the state house she lives in that is worth almost $4m. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Kainga Ora general manager for strategy, finance and policy Gareth Stiven said none of the five most valuable state homes were for sale or had development plans.
But he said that could change.
"Like other high value properties in our portfolio, these five homes could be sold further down the track. Our current national divestment programme has just begun, so assessing homes that will be sold is an ongoing process."
All five of the most valuable state homes are in Auckland and all but one, the most valuable, could be subdivided according to council planning rules.
The largest property, in Henderson, is worth $3.7m and the 4626 square metre land has no significant development constraints.
The second largest, on the North Shore in Hillcrest, is worth $3.5m and is on 2904 square metres of land that could be developed into up to 20 homes, according to council records.
Two others in Westmere, worth $3.7m and $3.6m, could potentially be subdivided into four units.
Corelogic head of research Nick Goodall earlier said the properties' values were tied up in large plots of land.
"It shows that you could probably build multiple units on that block of land to get better use and more people living in that area which would be well in demand from people wanting to live there to be closer to town."
Goodall believed Kāinga Ora should be considering the future of all five of its most valuable properties.
"There's probably lots of potential development all across Auckland. You would expect that these would be ones that would be on the list to look at."
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