A Wanaka family has built a six-bedroom house which the family members hope will be rented by a local business for staff accommodation.

Mark Nieuwkoop, his wife Judy and inlaws Anna and Steve released plans of the Albert Town house this week, advertising the property as suiting “a business looking to house staff or short term contracts”.

Mark, a trained builder, described himself and Judy as landlords: the family own rental properties in Dunedin which they’ve renovated for student accommodation; they’ve developed rental accommodation in Cromwell; and they have other sections in Wanaka on which they also plan to build.

“We see a need for rentals for young people coming into town. We’ll be advertising to rent the house to one company as that makes it easy for us,” Mark said.

“It was a bit of a long shot marketing it to a business,” he said, but he is confident the property will bring a good return while fulfilling a need.

Mark said he and Judy lived in Wanaka first in the 1990s when they owned a kitchen manufacturing business. Wanaka’s “massive problem” then was getting staff. The couple left in 2002 and lived overseas for 12 years, but are now back in Wanaka, which “has had a bit of growth in that time”.

Mark is looking at $250 per room or $300 for a double room in the new house. All six bedrooms have TVs and ensuite bathrooms. The house also has a double kitchen with a large dining table, two laundries, and parking space for more than six vehicles.

“We believe it is a fair market rent for the facilities offered,” he said.

One of his workers is currently sharing a rental house with 12 others; paying $200 a week, Mark said.

Others in Wanaka are also finding ways to address the lack of worker accommodation.

Paradiso cinema owner (and Queenstown Lakes District Council deputy mayor) Calum Macleod began a cinema facelift last year which included a new staff accommodation unit, in addition to an existing accommodation unit.

Calum said the addition of more staff accommodation was a response to the rental shortage his employees face.

“A girl we employed was paying $170 for a bed in a six bed room,” Calum said last year. “I found that quite offensive.”

Wanaka’s Central Machine Hire has its own staff house as well as space for employees living in motorhomes and caravans.

And Wanaka businessman Steve Shikker and his business partner Peter Greene have lodged a resource consent application for a mixed-use development near Mt Iron, which includes terraced housing and workers’ accommodation. The accommodation aspect was in response to the “huge demand” for accommodation for seasonal workers in the ski, horticulture, and tourism industry, Steve said.

PHOTOS: Supplied