First home buyers in Central Otago will now have preferential purchasing options for developments on council owned land, under a provision agreed on by councillors yesterday.

Staff members Saskia Righarts and Louise van der Voort have been working on new housing policies, and part of this work includes different typologies for developments such as at Gair Ave in Cromwell and Dunstan Park in Alexandra.

All but one councillor agreed to push forward with several new recommendations to address the district’s housing problems, in conjunction with the Central Otago Housing Group.

Council will continue to explore opportunities and advocate for funding to provide more affordable housing in the region, despite its decision in 2022 not to gift land to the Central Otago Affordable Housing Trust.

Saskia said first home buyers would get the opportunity to purchase the land, or land and homes package ahead of people who may be wanting a second dwelling such as a holiday home, with the aim of giving young people the opportunity to enter the housing market.

In 2023, only 15 per cent of buyers of real estate in Central Otago were first home owners, the same as Queenstown Lakes, but nationally the figure was much higher at 27 per cent.

The new provisions could also go some way towards lifting the 18-30 year old demographic of the area and keep young people living here.

Councillor Stu Duncan said even in the Maniototo, the price of housing had doubled in the past two years, and every corner of Central Otago was affected by the strong real estate market.

This led to councillor Tamah Alley questioning whether first home buyers could even afford a house in Central Otago anymore?

Mayor Tim Cadogan said there was no harm or loss of income to anybody by implementing the new preferential purchasing options.

Councillor Nigel McKinlay was the only councillor against the proposal, calling it meaningless and lacking data.

Deputy Mayor Neil Gillespie refuted his claim.“What data do we need? There are those who are new home owners and those that already have a home. We’ve got to do something. I think it's mostly right and we have a group that needs some support.”

Otherwise, the sections by council would be sold on the open market and then snapped up by someone who could then make a quick buck for doing nothing, he said.

Mayor Tim agreed and said he’d been sitting around the council table for too long over the years, hearing so many excuses about what might go wrong.

“We just want locals to have something to call home and treasure it. There is a lot of people who have a lot of homes that are making a lot of money . . . ”

Council was also awaiting a response from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Affordable Housing Fund to support the development of affordable housing in the Gair Ave development. 

The subject of affordable housing rentals is also being considered by staff, and is subject to council direction, which may be included in the 2024-34 Long Term Plan.

Moving forward, the Central Otago Housing Focus Group was looking for funding into a refreshed needs assessment for the district, which will collate data that council can use to show both the community and central Government that we have a real need here.