Concerns about housing costs at Hāwea subdivision Longview, which was created under special housing affordability legislation, are being “taken seriously”, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) says.

The Longview development was approved under the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas (HASHA) Act 2013, which exists to enhance housing affordability in high-cost areas. 

“To date, the developer has been compliant with the majority of the obligations from the deed,” QLDC strategic housing officer Emily Irwin said, including offering five and 10 percent deposit requirements for buyers, and “most significantly” delivering 46 community housing contributions (with 12 more to come) to the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust (QLCHT) - worth approximately $22M.

The 34ha site was classified as an SHA in December 2018, with a deed setting out affordable housing components including fixed price house and land packages, land resale conditions and restrictions on visitor accommodation.

The Longview Special Housing Area was approved in 2018.

Lake Hāwea resident and Hāwea Community Association (HCA) member Louise Merrall wrote an open letter to councillors and members of the Wānaka-Upper Clutha Community Board last week, saying the Longview developer, Universal Developments owner Lane Hocking, had not shown “any intent” to comply with a requirement to offer house and land packages within set price brackets, and that council staff had not taken proactive action to ensure compliance with the deed.

She claimed “developer’s delays” contributed significantly to the increase in costs.

“This SHA was developed under the auspices of increased affordability – concerns were raised at the time over the genuine nature of this and hindsight shows that this has not been achieved,” she said, adding that she wants councillors to “stand up for those in our community that we know are desperately struggling to afford a home, by seeking to ensure that the agreed terms of this development are met”.

Emily said she would report to the council’s Planning and Strategy Committee today (Tuesday May 7) on deed compliance.

She said earlier this year it was identified that the developer had not been advertising house/land packages for sale at the specified prices as required. The updated deed requires the developer to advertise packages starting at $499,000.

Louise said “most, if not all” packages advertised were “over $800,000 with the majority being in the $900k-$1.2M range”.

Lane informed QLDC that “even the updated prices are unrealistic given the high inflation seen in the construction sector over the previous few years”, Emily said. Lane said wastewater system Project Pure, which was originally scheduled for completion in 2020/2021 but is now planned from this coming financial year, is creating ongoing costs.

Lane told QLDC he is supplying a large volume of properties at “very affordable rates for the area”, for example $850,000 for a three bedroom, two bathroom 400m2 section, Emily said.

She said the council has “now begun a process to establish the facts”, including seeking advice from Longview builders, inflation data from StatsNZ, an independent review by a quantity surveyor to assess the extent of cost increases outside the developers’ and the builders’ control, a legal review to determine options such as negotiating any changes to the deed, and “levers for enforcement”.

Emily said the deed anticipates that prices will need to be updated with inflation, and that this has already occurred. 

She said council staff intends to take a paper to councillors about the situation, recommending “an appropriate response.” 

Go deeper: Disappointment with ‘affordable’ section prices

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