Land Developers Play Their Part in Contributing to Community Housing

11 August 2016

The Community Housing Trust is set to receive a steady flow of contributions from local land developers as the Queenstown Lakes District continues to grow.

Developers are required to make provision for Community Housing when they undertake a plan change under the District Plan. Executive Officer, Julie Scott explains the ‘planning gain’ theory, “when land is rezoned from rural to residential, it creates a huge uplift in value of that land simply through a change in zoning. Our Council believes that some of that uplift should come back to the community for the purposes of housing our low to moderate income workers - and the mechanism for this is through the Trust”.

Ms Scott notes that these contributions come from longstanding projects as well as more recent developments. “Council is party to more than a dozen Stakeholder Deeds with various developers throughout the District dating back to 2003. On top of these, there are the more recent agreements being signed between Special Housing Area applicants and the Trust.”

The deeds and agreements provide for a direct contribution to the Community Housing Trust. Ms Scott notes that these generally come by way of land but can also come in the form of cash or land/house packages. “As a community organisation our Trust offers a retention mechanism which enables the funds received to be recycled in perpetuity on behalf of the community.”

Since its inception in 2007 the Trust has received around $14m in contributions from developers, which is only a small fraction of what is expected over the next 10 years.

An example of a successful Stakeholders Deed transaction can be seen at Kirimoko Park in Wanaka.

Developer John May, along with development partner Don Church, were party to a deed agreeing to a 5% contribution to the Trust. They delivered a complete land/house package to the Trust as Stage 1 of his development. The Trust then leveraged against this property and purchased another two houses within the development for local families. Mr May and Mr Church then delivered cash contributions in the next stages, totalling more than one million dollars overall, which the Trust used in its own developments around the District. Ms Scott comments “Mr May has been very supportive of the Trust and worked with us with a generous and co-operative spirit”.

Mr May stated “I see the contributions we have made to the Community Housing Trust both as a social responsibility and a way of actively supporting affordability in Wanaka and the surrounding district. The lack of robust and compulsory requirements from council leaves the decision to contribute to the Trust in the hands of developers and has often resulted in a lack of ‘buy in’. I feel that the best approach is to lead by example and it is my optimistic hope that the contributions we have made through the development process at Kirimoko Park will make a difference”.

Ms Scott notes the Trust will build on land gifted to it where possible. Examples of this are the 44 lot subdivision currently under construction at Shotover Country, and an 11 lot development due to commence in Albert Town.

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