A housing ‘action plan’ eight months in the making will go out for community consultation if councillors sign off on it in today’s (Thursday April 27) council meeting.

The Queenstown Lakes District Joint Housing Action Plan (JHAP) lists nine actions with the shared goal of creating a future where anyone who chooses to live in the district can easily access quality, stable, affordable housing.

Created by QLDC with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Kāinga Ora and the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust, the action plan sets measurable goals and identifies key actions to increase the supply of affordable housing.

The JHAP is not a silver bullet for housing issues and its authors highlight the out-of-control housing costs in Queenstown Lakes, where the average property value is 14 times the average household income and an average rent more than $100 above the New Zealand average.

“Housing affordability has significant implications for the wellbeing of the people of the district and has a direct impact upon workforce attraction and retention,” QLDC strategic growth manager Anita Vanstone said. 

“In addition, workers are finding it difficult to secure rental accommodation due to the high rental rates, and because of the competing uses, such as short-term letting.”

The JHAP’s actions include:

- Realising opportunities to purchase and develop land for the provision of affordable housing in the Queenstown Lakes District

- Influencing and incentivising current developers and attracting new developers from outside the region to provide affordable housing

- Working with the community to find solutions to rental shortage with a focus on workforce housing 

- Finding opportunities to purchase and develop land for the provision of affordable housing

- Working collaboratively to investigate opportunities to utilise a range of legislation and other tools to enable affordable housing choices in the district

- Continuing to support Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust and other providers 

A series of KPIs will be used to assess progress on reaching the JHAP vision.

Anita said the JHAP would be put into action over the next five years and stressed that it did not supply a quick fix for housing issues.

“The housing challenge in the district is complex and well-recognised, but interventions and solutions take time to come to fruition,” she said. 

“The collaboration of a range of local, regional and central government bodies, community groups, Kāi Tahu and developers is needed to achieve positive outcomes.”

Read more: Housing shortage must be ‘tackled from many angles’

If councillors approve the JHAP today, it will go out for community consultation in May.

Targeted engagement, with key developers, key employers, community groups and other groups, will also take place. 

To read the full JHAP open the council agenda for Thursday, April 27 by clicking here.

PHOTO: Supplied