Golden Bay Housing Trust offers its fifth rental house to eligible families
Members of the Golden Bay Housing Trust, from left, Belinda J Barnes, Fran O’Connell and Mik Symmons. Photo: Neil Wilson.
A fifth house is almost ready to be put on the rental market by the Golden Bay Housing Trust. The new family home perches halfway up a hill in the Rototai subdivision, close to the other four homes the trust owns, and will be available for rental by the end of August.
The successful applicant needs to meet the eligibility criteria and submit some references with the application form, available from Heartlands, says trust chair Belinda Barnes.
“We give priority to working families. The maximum duration of the rental agreement is five years, and, to give the families a helping hand, the rent we charge is only 80 per cent of the average market rate. We hope this gives people a leg up to save some money for a deposit to buy their own homes.
“All our houses are well built, fully insulated, double glazed and have solar hot water.”
At its onset, the GB Housing Trust received a lot of help from the Nelson-Tasman Housing Trust, which is based on the same ideals and ideas. The trusts are separate from each other. After having funding refused by the NZ Housing Association, the community-based organisation received a massive donation of $1.2 million from the Canterbury Community Trust, which was sufficient to purchase some land and construct the first four houses. The fifth house was funded on the equity of the other properties.
“In middle of August we will have the official opening,” said Belinda. “Last time, we were going to choose people by ballot, but in the end we only had four parties who met the criteria, so it was easy. This time round it may be quite different, depending on the number of people applying. People who think they may not fit the criteria can still apply. My belief is that if you don’t ask, then you don’t get. People who work in health or education might like to apply as well.”
Fran O’Connell of Golden Bay Homes and Property Management confirms that renting remains difficult in Golden Bay and families still leave because they cannot find suitable homes for long-term rental.
“It’s definitely an issue. I had three people ring me today looking for something to rent—not necessarily families or people who met the criteria for the housing trust—and I don’t have anything available,” said Fran. “Sometimes [families leave] because of the rental situation, but a lot of the time it is the work situation, too. I know of a family that has been living in a holiday home and has been trying to find a home for long-term rent for quite some time. I just managed to find them something last week, but by then they were considering leaving the Bay.”
Rents here average between $280 and $300 a week, and the standard of available properties varies widely. Though rents are comparable with averages nationally, the average income in the Bay remains one of the lowest in the country.
The trust has no plans to build any other houses in the meantime, having made a big difference to the rental market already.
Ina Holst
