Ponsonby News asked eight of our readers to tell us their experiences of living in apartments.
Twenty years ago these were harder to sell, with many Kiwis wanting their dream of a family house on a quarter-acre section. But now, virtually it seems like every corner has apartments on it or has them planned as our city grows. Our eight interviews include a marketing director, a politician, the Mayor, a real estate agent, a maximalist and a semi retired couple.
Michael and Kathryn Avenell
We live about halfway up the Metropolis building, so we have a view of the north and east of the city, the harbour and the North Shore. Opening our double sliding doors we can see straight down to Freyberg Square. We love that, but we have had quite a few visitors who couldn’t handle the height at all!
We like our level because we get the view plus the entertainment of watching the action in the streets and on the sea. We also get to see the sun and moon rise on the eastern horizon.
Our building has a gym, swimming pool, sauna and they are great for getting to know people. It’s quite social if you are open to it. Even the lift ride is a good way to get to know people. There are a few social events every year for apartment owners. Our building has about 400 apartments so has about 600 people? That’s like a small village.
Everything is handy when you live in the city. Dentist, doctor, copy shop, gift shop, $2 shop, library, supermarket, cafes, cheap eats. Power walking in the city is great. An hour's walk goes by quickly because there’s always so much to look at. You come across buskers, events, markets, demonstrations, the weird and wonderful!
Noise – our building is very well built with thick walls, so we don’t get disturbed by neighbours at all, but we’ve heard people in other buildings complain of noisiness from neighbouring apartments. That’s something to check if you are going to buy one.
The occasional party happens in a nearby apartment but security is onto it quite quickly.
Friday and Saturday nights can be noisy in the city, so we shut the windows those nights, but otherwise we like the fresh air feel of them open.
We would definitely avoid apartments relying solely on air-con. Of course, it’s a luxury for sure to have the option of air conditioning and heating with a flick of a switch. We like that.
A body corp fee, like it or not, is part and parcel of apartment living. Residents certainly need people on their body corp committee who have the right experience and committee members who get on with each other. Our body corp has never failed us in the last eight years.
They arrange regular visits of police drug dogs to keep on top of drug cooking and crime. That’s another important question to ask if you have a plan to live high rise.
Maybe on the down side in our building, pets are not allowed and our guests have to pay for parking in the city when they visit us. Our apartments are mostly too small to accommodate big dinner parties. But, on the plus side, we observe that people in wheelchairs can live in an apartment and use the city very successfully.
Other positives… house work is minimal. There are no outside house maintenance jobs to do like mowing, window washing, de-spidering. No pruning, HRV, water or septic tank responsibilities. No kindling to cut. We also regularly go away camping without worrying about security.
Sharing a building – our power bill is very low as the building is always quite warm. The water bill is included in the body corp fees and we all share in the building insurance.
We are in the hands of the generic building facilities, so we keep a giant bottle of water in case of a water supply emergency. It’s never happened though.
Occasionally, people do things like burn their toast and we all know about it because the fire alarm goes off. The morning begins with a collective moan. We have ear plugs for that. We’ve never had to actually leave the building thank goodness, except for a drill.
Space is limited in an apartment of course so we use every little nook and cranny to store things. It’s an exercise in creativity. Our lifestyle helps. We don’t use a microwave, so that makes for extra kitchen shelf storage. We use the twin drawer dish washer as storage instead of dish washing, so the kitchen is not a place where we feel cramped at all.
We don’t use a clothes drier (because the clothes mostly dry overnight on a clothes horse), so we have a small freezer instead in that space, (on top of the washing machine in a cupboard), much more useful.
Ours is an open plan style apartment. We have a kitchen bar instead of a dining table. Shared dining with guests is round the coffee table. We use the second bedroom as a second living room. Michael’s desk is in the lounge by the TV. Luckily, we hardly watch the TV.
Kathryn’s desk has three jobs – office workspace, sewing base and workspace for remote spiritual energy healing, which she does by phone.
We have no balcony, so Kathryn grows sprouts and a few greens in pot plants by the window. She shed tears in the first week, “Where are my lemon tree and my kale garden?” But you find ways round that.
So many people told us, “You can put a lemon tree in a pot,” but it only takes a week to eat six lemons and then you have to keep it alive till the plant can come up with six more. No, too much work. Even if we did have a balcony, it’s too harsh an environment for plants. But you get used to buying a few bits in the organic shop, and foraging for wild edibles like dandelions in wild park spaces adds nutrients to what the supermarket offers.
We have one carpark (a carpark is worth about $100K so one is enough for us). We also have a big storage cupboard downstairs for garage-type storage.
Healthwise… when you live in a city apartment building, I believe you need to get a balance by walking in nature. I do barefoot walking in Abert Park, in the dewy grass. It’s so beautiful there under the big trees.
Melissa Fergusson
Are you currently living in an apartment and where are you based?
Yes – I reside in Vinegar Lane in Ponsonby/Grey Lynn and have done so for a while now.
What motivated you to buy or rent one?
I’ve lived in apartments for the past 10 years in Auckland and have always really enjoyed the experience.
What do you like most about this way of living?
It’s great to be able to ‘lock and leave’, with no garden or ground maintenance, no unexpected visitors can come to your door and, most importantly, I like the secure access to the apartment building and parking my car in a gated garage.
Is the body corporate affordable and what does it include?
The body corporate costs are pretty standard, and include the annual external window clean, weekly rubbish and recycle collection, general maintenance and the upkeep of the shared green space.
Any downsides?
The only inconvenience is when you have lots of shopping bags to carry, you can’t park right outside your front door! Other than that, apartment living has many positives.
Aaron Cook
Are you currently living in an apartment and where are you based?
Yes, I live at the top of Shortland Street.
What motivated you to buy one?
I was motivated to buy for convenience, it being only five or six minutes mostly under cover walk to and from work.
What do you like most about this way of living?
Low maintenance, secure and super convenient is what I like most about this way of living. Having Albert Park nearby is wonderful to get some fresh air in and I don't have to mow the lawns or pay someone else to do it.
Is the body corporate affordable and what does it include?
The body corporate is not too bad for a boutique building of only 29 apartments, it's part and parcel of this way of living. I understand there is a lot of compliance these days on buildings to keep everyone safe with lift servicing contracts, fire sprinkler system surveys and alarm testing, to the building warrant of fitness, not to mention insurance costs which everyone who owns a property just has to accept.
Any downsides?
The building I live in and bought into some time back is a little bit older so no double glazing, air-conditioning and a bit of maintenance comes up from time to time. The newer ones like Proxima Residences in Eden Terrace, however, have good peace of mind being built to meet or exceed the latest building code so provide even greater comfort, ease of living and have super low body corp levies in comparison.
Martin and Maryjane Bell (nee Heather)
We live in Westmere in a three-level townhouse. We left our villa in Ponsonby, as our two boys were off to live their lives and we were keen to travel. Low maintenance in a lovely suburb not too far out. (Then came Covid.)
We do have a house in Northland where we can spread out and feel the grass on our bare feet. It is an old house so we still get our fill of maintenance and it does soothe the renovation bug.
What motivated you to buy or rent one?
We left our Ponsonby villa for a lockup and leave to spend more time out of Auckland. We liked the idea of new for a change but keen to stay on this side of town. You can see and smell the sea.
What do you like most about this way of living?
It’s easy. Little or no maintenance, you get the community closeness of traditional Ponsonby and the convenience of design made for today's style of living and entertaining.
In moving to Westmere, we’ve found a lot of familiar faces from Maryjane’s long involvement in Kelmarna Gardens and mine with Western Springs football. It’s a great community here and we finally have a sea view.
Is the body corporate affordable and what does it include?
We were keen not to be part of a body corporate and we’re lucky to find a property which is a duplex on strata titles.
Any downsides?
In the summer months, we miss the sense of space and privacy we had in our large villa and the fact we can’t fit a pool in the front yard.
Belinda Nash
Are you currently living in an apartment and where are you based?
Yes, I am in Ockham's Aalto in Morningside, a brand new build that opened its doors in September last year.
What motivated you to buy or rent one?
A series of extremely fortunate coincidences led me to my first home, a story that could begin with 'It started with a kiss...', and traverses debt, connection with family and optimism through tough times. Intrigue aside, I love the tiny home living. I think high-quality apartments are important in creating a thriving modern city. They elevate a community's diversity, give people access to otherwise unaffordable suburbs, and for those of us who don't actually want the so-called Kiwi quarter-acre dream, it literally opens the door to small footprint living.
Aalto's building design has community at its heart. We have access to a sun-soaked penthouse lounge with a full kitchen and dining area and generous roof deck with stunning rooftop views, a shared work from home office on the same floor (my company's based in Wellington) and a bookable guest bedroom. And we're pet friendly.
What do you like most about this way of living?
I lived in Saint Marys Bay for 12 years and I probably wouldn't know the majority of my neighbours in a line-up. In contrast, living just six months at Aalto, I've met probably half the building's residents (and pets) and we even managed a successful Christmas pot-luck. Finch Street has welcomed us into the fold too, inviting us to its community fiestas and a local brewery meet-up. Some of us in the building are creating plans to enjoy the winter months too, like games nights, wine and dine evenings, brunch club and maybe a few Sunday sessions. I love being near a train station, which will connect to the City Rail Link, a varied bus network and having easy access to the motorway.
Is the body corporate affordable and what does it include?
The body corporate levies are among the more affordable in the city – several thousand less than others I have seen – and less than the money a homeowner would need to set aside for ongoing building maintenance. They pay for insurance, our gardens, cleaners, lifts, building electricity, free wifi in the lounge and WFH office, our building management team, rubbish removal and exterior window washing.
Any downsides?
So far, no. After being Ponsonby-centric for decades, I am obsessed with this little gem of a suburb, and I'm loving discovering more and meeting more neighbours every week. Pasifika was just a stroll down the road, and Mt Eden concerts are a 15-minute walk away. Our Aalto community contributes financially and socially to the neighbourhood, and I can't wait for more high-quality apartment buildings to join us – emphasis on 'high quality'.
Wayne Brown
My wife and I have owned and lived in apartments in various parts of Ponsonby all this century. We started in Blake Street, the Hopetoun and currently are in 8 Hereford up 16 stories with lovely city and harbour views. If we moved again it would be to an apartment.
We like apartments as we don’t need lawns and love being close to the city and its restaurants and bars and experiencing what a city offers, especially compared to suburban living that involves so much daily travel.
Body corporate fees are reasonable and allow us to have a swimming pool and gymnasium that we wouldn’t have individually on our own.
On the selfish side, we are happy that mostly there aren’t kids everywhere. When ours were younger, we had our own place with lots of room for them but now they have left home the apartment is an ideal living solution.