With their new houses at Northlake set to be completed this month, nine more Wānaka families can now call Wānaka home with certainty.

The homes, which range from $472,000 to $568,000, are the latest to be built with the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust’s (QLCHT) affordable housing model.

“To be able to provide a safe, secure and newly-built home to nine of those families means a lot, because we know it’s not just a house – it’s also providing a level of certainty and the ability to feel settled in the local community,” QLCHT chief executive Julie Scott said.

Six of the houses will be occupied under the ‘Secure Home’ programme, where people purchase the properties through a 100-year land lease arrangement, with the trust retaining ownership of the land in perpetuity.

The remaining three will be rented under the trust’s rental programmes.

“The ability to deliver standalone properties at these price points has been a collaborative effort with the ongoing support of both the Queenstown Lakes District Council and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s Progressive Home Ownership Fund,” QLCHT chief executive Julie Scott.

Julie said she was excited to hand over keys for the nine properties in time for Easter.

QLCHT acquired the land in 2021 and construction on the three and four-bedroom properties, started in early 2022.

The not-for-profit social enterprise, which exists to manage and deliver affordable housing solutions, continues to face huge demand.

“Accommodation is a pressing issue in our district, and we have evidence of that, with 150 people on the waiting list in the Upper Clutha area alone,” Julie said. 

Some of those on the waitlist have homes in sight - the Breen Homes team which has built the Northlake homes will move on to deliver another 28 homes in Hāwea as soon as the Northlake homes are completed.

PHOTO: QLCHT