The Community Housing Trust is in full construction mode at its 44 lot site in Shotover Country, after roads and services were completed earlier this year.

Construction has been broken into blocks with three separate firms completing houses for the three blocks. These firms are Breen Construction, Modus Construct and Rilean Construction.

Executive Officer, Julie Scott, said “we’re very pleased with the performance of the construction companies so far, with all on track for completion by the end of this year.”

“As a design-build process, the three firms bring different styles to the development which will provide variety across the 44 properties. However; the fencing and landscaping is being designed as a single masterplan, so they’ll ultimately all tie in together to deliver an aesthetically pleasing comprehensive development.”

The Trust is targeting a lower price range by focusing on smaller homes and section sizes. Property prices range from $445k for 2 bedrooms up to $565k for 4 bedrooms.

Ms Scott comments “with the very intense property market boom this district is currently in, we’re delighted to be able to build good quality homes which are well below the average price most entry level buyers face”.

Around ¾’s of the properties have been sold into the Shared Ownership programme with the remainder retained for the Trust’s rental portfolio, under either the Rent Saver or Affordable Rental programmes.

The Trust’s goal is to keep moving households along the “housing continuum” towards independence. By way of example, a household might spend 5 years in a rental programme before buying into the same property under Shared Ownership and then another 5 years later buying the Trust’s share out completely.

Ms Scott notes the programmes work well with 34 of the 81 households assisted with Shared Ownership since its creation in 2008, having now moved on to become independent of the Trust.

ENDS

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