Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) set an ambitious goal with its aim to deliver 1,000 affordable homes to people in the district by 2028, but a recent update shows good progress and new homes on the horizon. 

At the same time, mayoral candidates claim more can be done. 

Council met in September and discussed progress on its housing taskforce, which was created in early 2017 to help find ways to deliver more affordable homes in the district. 

“The [housing taskforce] has had some notable successes establishing a great base for housing into the future of the district,” council said in a statement. It added that while there was plenty more to be done, there had been some major successes over the last two years.

“The QLDC LEAD policy...has an affordable housing requirement which will deliver approximately 191 sections to the QLCHT (Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust) to be developed for retained affordable housing over the next few years,” a council representative told the Wanaka App after the meeting.

More than a third of these sections will be located in the Upper Clutha. Council told the Wanaka App there will be at least 55 affordable homes built for Hawea and Wanaka locals over the three years. 

The land for these homes come from SHA contributions in Hawea (Universal Developments) and Wanaka (Bright Sky), and from other historic developer agreements. The council is working with the QLCHT  to deliver the new homes. 

The QLCHT, set up by council in 2007, exists to help residents into decent affordable housing with secure tenure. The trust is an independent, community owned organisation, which has been selected by council as the prefered partner for affordable housing delivery.

Mayoral candidates Nik Kiddle and Al Angus have said they think more can be done to provide more affordable housing in the district.

Al told the Wanaka App he believes streamlining the building consent process “will improve the housing situation”. Nik said to increase affordability he would provide rating, building and resource consent incentives “to encourage developers to offer the full spectrum of housing options designed for long term residential living”. He would also examine council-provided housing solutions, he said. 

Apart from the work of the housing taskforce which mayor Jim Boult set up, Nik said the new district plan will enable in-fill housing in appropriate areas which could mean smaller, more affordable sections; he also said there were “other initiatives underway”.

The Queenstown Lakes District has surpassed Auckland as the most expensive place to live in New Zealand, with the average house price now over one million dollars. 

PHOTO: Wanaka App