80 | Outram Homes T T Virginia Wright Relocatable homes the full package BUILDING When Kirsty Grant and Todd Ford of Todd Ford Builders bought their new home in Outram in 2022 it came with two and a half acres, a large shed and a good-sized paddock off to one side. This was the final piece of the puzzle they needed to commit to setting up their second company, Outram Homes, with the intention of building affordable, relocatable houses. Todd has over 20 years’ experience in the industry, and started his building company in 2018 when he and Kirsty came back from London and Melbourne having spent several years building anything from loft conversions to shop fit-outs. Todd Ford Builders works on a range of projects in Dunedin and surrounding areas, including residential new-builds, light commercial, extensions, renovations and maintenance, and has steadily grown each year to its current team of 10. Todd takes the responsibility of having 10 staff depending on his company for their livelihoods seriously, and it was during Covid that he and Kirsty started talking about what they could do to ensure they had work for them all, regardless of what was going on externally, explains Todd. “We needed something for the guys to do in case it happened again or something like it. We realised there was a shortage in the local market for relocatable, affordable houses, so that’s when we went with it and met with architectural draftsman Steph Chittock of Spotted Ink to come up with some architecturally designed, functional, easy-to-construct plans.” With no-one locally building transportable houses (not to be confused with tiny homes), apart from the Polytech, they wanted to be the first to offer cost-effective houses that can be built on-site in Outram then trucked to their destination. Building on-site makes them cost-efficient, and they have been architecturally designed to fit on the truck and easily transported without needing a raft of special permits. While the houses are kept simple, a lot of thought went into the design to ensure they are built for easy living with a feeling of spaciousness, plenty of storage and functionality. With two children of their own, Todd’s years of building, and Steph’s experience, they had plenty of good ideas to draw on. “Kirsty and I worked alongside Steph and came up with designs that we thought would work well with plenty of useable spaces to make a nice home, but still easy to construct,” says Todd. With open-plan kitchens with an island, plenty of bench space, a good cooking area and well-designed custom-made joinery to maximise storage, bedrooms with builtin wardrobes, and a separate laundry in the houses with two or three bedrooms, everything is built well and built to last, and the price is for the total package. ‘The key thing is we want it to be affordable for people looking to build a house or wanting something new, but when you look through the fine print of what’s included in a lot of these sorts of homes, a lot is excluded. We’ve really tried to nail down supplying everything. When you walk in you’ve got the finished product. You’ve got the curtains, you’ve got the carpet, all the chattels and tapware, and your storage is kitted out with custom joinery. It’s the full package,” explains Todd. They have been live online for eight months, with enquiries flooding in and the first contract close to being signed. Clearly, their reading of the market is proving to be correct as Outram Homes offers an affordable option to anyone looking to put a house on their land, from first-home buyers, to farmers wanting to put an airbnb somewhere to make the most of the view. PLACEMAKERS DUNEDIN & MOSGIEL PLACEMAKERSDUNEDIN & MOSGIEL 50 BURNS ST & 34 CARNCROSS ST (03) 466 4617 PROUDLY SUPPORTING Commercial Painting Residential Painting Wall Coverings High Quality Preparation Specialty Finishes Project Management Colour Consultancy Power Washing Proudly painting Otago since 1962 Get in touch! 03 455 0488 hello@simsandblue.co.nz simsandblue.co.nz
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