A Wānaka housing project that will provide affordable rentals to seniors has received a $100,000 grant from a local trust that assists people in need in the Upper Clutha.

The housing project, which is being developed and managed by Queenstown Lakes Housing Community Trust (QLCHT), received the six-figure donation from the Elsie and Ray Armstrong Charitable Trust. 

The grant will contribute to the development of 10 affordable, one-bedroom units, along with two three-bedroom family units on the corners of Upton and McDougall Streets.

It will allow QLCHT to provide “additional features such as solar panels, a communal laundry space and shared services, including a highly efficient hot water heating system to the 12-units,” QLCHT chief executive Julie Scott said. 

“These extra infrastructure benefits will provide substantial financial support to the occupants by significantly reducing power costs.” 

Elsie and Ray Armstrong Charitable Trust trustee Simon Telfer said the group is excited to contribute towards the important community project.

“The elderly are an important demographic in our local community who need support and we are thrilled about what this project will provide them,” he said. 

“We’re pleased this grant helps to kickstart the development and hope it leads to others supporting our fellow Wānaka residents.”

QLCHT hopes to break ground on the $5-6M project by the middle of 2025.

The development will help to get some of the 250 Wānaka households on the QLCHT waitlist - including a growing number of seniors - into homes.

“We have a lot of people aged over 60 living in the district, and some encounter unfortunate and unexpected circumstantial changes, which are outside of their control,” QLCHT Wānaka tenancy manager Emma Roberts said.

“For many of these people, their only option is to upheave their lives and leave town. By offering an alternative rental option it allows them to have a greater sense of security, which is important as the local population grows and ages.”

The new development started as a concept back in November 2022, when QLCHT purchased a section on McDougall Street – beside five council-owned rental properties – with the intent of developing the vacant lot into affordable rental units for seniors. 

Last year Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) approved the transfer of ownership and operational management of the five neighbouring properties to QLCHT.

PHOTO: Supplied