Much-needed affordable housing for the Queenstown Lakes District is on the way, after the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) approved the transfer of land in Arrowtown to the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust (QLCHT) for $1.

The approval was signed late last month and is a key step in allowing the land, on Jopp Street, to be developed into a mixture of affordable rentals. This will include an allocation for elderly housing and Secure Home properties.

QLDC Chief Executive Mike Theelen said the move was a “milestone” in helping bring additional affordable housing to the district.

“The transfer will ensure that QLCHT can begin the next stage in their development of the land. Ultimately, it will lead to the creation of 68 affordable homes and make a small but important difference to the district’s affordable housing stocks,” Mr Theelen said.

“This is something both QLDC and QLCHT have been working on for quite some time, and it is satisfying to see the process starting to come to fruition.”

QLCHT Executive Officer Julie Scott noted an application for Resource Consent had been lodged, with the Trust expecting to break ground on the site in spring.

“We’ve been in the design and masterplanning phase for over a year, so it’s really exciting to be moving to the next stage of the project. Our waiting list now sits at 750 households, so this development will have a significant impact when the homes are built,” Ms Scott said.

She further noted the Trust intends to create a mixed tenure development, with homes being allocated to a mixture of QLCHT’s housing programmes, including Senior Housing, affordable rentals, rent-to-buy, and its ground breaking assisted ownership programme, Secure Home.

The sign-off comes after Council initially agreed to transfer the land to QLCHT for the purpose of affordable housing in April 2019.

© Scoop Media