Queenstown scheme boosts housing hopes

Adebbie.jamieson@stuff.co.nz

Queenstown couple had almost given up on the idea of owning their own home in New Zealand’s most expensive town, but a new programme has helped them realise their dream.

Amy and Banjo Balila are familiar faces around Queenstown, as Amy works at a local bank and Banjo runs the customer service team at Pak ‘n Save.

They have lived in Queenstown for 13 years and have an 8-year-old son.

Finding suitable housing had not been easy though, with Queenstown’s median house price of $1 million making it the most expensive place to live in the country. The average rent for a three-bedroom house is also high, hitting about $750 a week.

Amy and Banjo have been stuck in a cycle of renting, sometimes having to move home every year.

‘‘The main thing about renting in Queenstown is the owner decides to come back to the house or they want to sell it,’’ Amy said.

The couple are among the first to get a home under the Secure Home pilot programme set up by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust.

The trust celebrated the completion of the first six homes in the project, at Shotover Country subdivision, on Tuesday.

Under the scheme, purchasers pay between $320,000 for a twobedroom property and $400,000 for a three-bedroom property, along with a ground rent set at 1.5 per cent of the land value and adjusted annually with inflation.

A $300,000 section would return a ground rent of $4500 per annum, or $86.50 per week.

The lease arrangement is set to run for 100 years, with the trust retaining ownership of the land in perpetuity.

Amy and Banjo had been on the trust’s waiting list for about nine years and were preparing to give up and leave Queenstown altogether when they got the call about the Secure Home programme.

They used their Kiwisaver and savings for a deposit, and got a mortgage with the bank.

Even with the land rental, the outgoings for their new threebedroom home will cost less than the rent on their two-bedroom property.

‘‘We’re really happy. It’s overwhelming,’’ Amy said.

‘‘Sometime you can’t find the words ... I’m picturing my son’s room, where he is going to study, a place for his toys .... We’re looking at our future as a family.’’

Queenstown Lakes mayor Jim Boult said seeing the scheme get under way was his ‘‘happiest occasion’’ since being elected mayor in 2016.

‘‘This community is made up of all sorts of people – council workers, police, teachers, truck drivers – it would be a shame if they couldn’t live here.

‘‘This is not a ‘nice to have’. It’s a ‘must do’ for the sake of our community.’’

Trust executive officer Julie Scott said the programme had a restricted resale clause, meaning each home could only ever be sold back to the trust at the original purchase price plus inflation for the years the owners had been in the house.

‘‘So if the original house price was $350,000 and inflation was 2 per cent every year for, say, five years, the resale price after five years would be $385,000.’’

The property would then be sold to the next household on the trust’s waiting list, ensuring it remained affordable in perpetuity.