Home suite home Former motel becomes temporary housing complex

Eight-year-old Issy Millan is very excited about the bathrooms at Brydan Accommodation.

‘‘It’s a spa bath,’’ Issy says, jumping up and down.

Her family will be one of the first to move into the former motel as it becomes Blenheim’s first temporary housing complex.

Issy’s mother Sianne Millan is excited too – there is a washing machine, a reasonably-sized kitchen, and a dishwasher.

‘‘Here, we will have something stable. And we can walk to the supermarket. But the main thing will be eliminating the stress of not knowing where we will be tomorrow,’’ Millan said.

A bath would be a luxury for Issy, her two siblings and her nephew, after five months of moving between motels and campgrounds, where there were only showers.

‘‘Getting told on Tuesday that you have to be out on Wednesday, that was the hardest bit,’’ Millan said.

Their landlord’s daughter had needed a house, so the Millans were forced to leave their Blenheim rental, and struggled to find a house they could afford – and there was huge competition for the ones they could afford, Millan said.

‘‘And 42 days might sound like a lot of time to find a place, but when you’ve got that many other people looking, you do get pushed to the back of the queue when you’re a solo mum.’’

But the Millan family got their first peek inside their new home at the official opening of Brydan Accommodation on Friday, a project about two years in the making.

The motel, previously ranked the ninth best place to stay in 2Blenheim by online travel website Tripadvisor, had 17 units and room for up to 50 people.

People staying at Brydan would be supported by on-site managers and social workers in their search for permanent housing, likely to take three months on average.