Building is underway on the first six homes in a pilot housing scheme in Queenstown.
Construction of Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust’s six Secure Home houses are underway at Cherwell Lane in Shotover Country. Photo: Supplied
Two two-bedroom and four three-bedroom homes are being built in Shotover Country as part of the Queenstown Community Housing Trust's Secure Home scheme.
Home buyers will be able to purchase Cherwell Lane properties without paying land costs as the Trust retains ownership of the land.
Trust executive officer Julie Scott said the programme meant people would be able to buy a house at around the cost to build it and then pay a low ground rent for the land.
The rent would only ever increase annually and in line with inflation, Ms Scott said.
A restricted resale clause will be in place so properties can only be resold back to the Trust at the original purchase price with additional money depending on how many years the owner has lived in the home.
"So if the original house price was $400,000, and inflation was 2 percent every year for, say, five years, the resale price would be $440,000. The homeowners would realise a modest amount of appreciation on the property.
"This will ensure the property remains affordable for future home owners."
And there is a lot of demand for the properties before they have been built.
More than 500 households are on the Trust's waiting list for the scheme.
"When your options are either keep paying excessive rents, or buy your own home under a permanently affordable assisted-ownership model, it becomes a pretty simple choice," Ms Scott said.
The properties are expected to be finished by early 2019.