The perennial shortage of housing for seasonal workers is being felt this month, but it’s not all bad news. Some locals have been offering spare rooms, shared living spaces and cabins for those in need of a warm place to stay this winter.

Ambrose Ledbrook was living solely out of his van until he saw a poster on the New World notice board advertising a driveway to park up on and shared facilities to use.

“It’s central and only a short walk into town, I’m paying a lot less and I like the people who live there,” he told the Wanaka App.

Previously Ambrose was working and cooking in his van and showering at a local gym.

“It was really annoying when you need to do everything in that space. I’m tall and my van isn’t a high top.”

Now Ambrose is able just to use his van as a bed for the night.

“This is my set up for the season I reckon, I can connect to power and I’m warm at night so I think other workers would be really happy if they could find the same set up that I’ve got.”

Not only have driveways been offered, so too have spare rooms. Linda Montgomery and Rob Facer have opened up a room in their home for a couple working on the ski fields.

“They’re the same age as our kids,” Rob said.

“We were all in that position once and you know, it keeps life interesting. We enjoy meeting interesting people – open yourself up to new opportunities and you can find out about all sorts of new interesting stuff.”

Rob and Linda registered their room on the Workforce Accommodation Network (WAN) and were able to meet the couple before agreeing to let them stay.

“It’s important Wanaka has these workers coming here and we like to support the town,” Linda said.

George Boyan, who is working this season as a lift attendant at Cardrona Alpine Resort, was close to quitting his job and leaving Wanaka as his search for a place to live was becoming more desperate.

“I was going to give it until the end of the month,” he said. “There wasn’t very much hope.”

Luckily for George, Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park registered some of their cabins as longer-term rentals on the WAN website and George was able to secure one for the season.

“Having my own space is real nice and it’s only slightly more expensive than the backpackers,” he said.

WAN founder Carmen Blackler said although the past week has brought with it a positive response from people registering accommodations, there are more workers registering that are in need of somewhere to stay.

“It’s a real issue, we still need more,” she said. “We need to continue to educate people and encourage them to join up because there’s still so many that haven’t got rooms.”

Read more:

Properties to rent for seasonal workers down by a third

If you have a room or facilities available, or if you’re looking for a place to stay, you can register with the WAN here.