The town council of Tauranga has reached a settlement with an owner of one of the houses of the failed Bella Vista development.

The council announced the deal with the owner of the 299a Lakes Boulevard this afternoon, stating that the settlement had been reached by negotiation

The City Council agreed to take ownership of the property in exchange for paying the owner to all wasted expenses.

In a written statement the council said that the terms of the settlement were confidential "but the parties have worked constructively to achieve a solution that enables the owner to move forward from Bella Vista."

The deal follows the Council's buy-out offer last month. It agreed to make offers to buy the 21 houses in the failed subdivision for the price that the homeowners were initially paid plus the costs.

Garry Poole, the president of the Council, said the council had to weigh the interests of homeowners against those of Tauranga taxpayers. He expected the Board's insurers to pay the "overwhelming majority" of the buy-out costs.

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless initially confirmed to NZME that the board had unanimously agreed to make the offers, but did not want to say how the offer amounts were calculated

The offer was based on advice from the former court authority Rhys Harrison, QC.