Half of the 20 affordable homes Bridge Housing Charitable Trust is building on Ōhaupō Road in Te Awamutu have sold.
At its June meeting Carli Nolan from the trust asked Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Community Board to refer potential buyers to her.
“We have got close to half of our 20 reserved already, which means that they are already working with the solicitor,” Nolan said.
“If you know of any that might want to look into this definitely, please refer them our way,”
Jill Taylor
Board member Jill Taylor thought there would be more interest if the complex had not been built so close to State Highway 3.
“I guess a lot of people are not interested because it’s so closer to the road,” Taylor said. “You can see into rooms from the roadside, which is a shame that it was allowed to be so close to the road.”
Nolan replied, “I know it doesn’t look so great from the outside, it looks close, but once you’re inside with the double glazing and the way it’s insulated it’s actually not very noisy. Once you’ve got blinds up, I suppose, you’re not very aware of where you are. People often say it’s much nicer than I thought.”
Nolan said there was more interest in the Te Awamutu project than the Cambridge one, but it was hard to narrow interest down to buyers she could get across the line.
“A lot of that was the market as well, the higher interest rates made it really tough.”
Angela Holt
Board chair Ange Holt said the project seemed like a good opportunity for first home buyers to get into their first home.
The scheme is capped at first home buyers with an income of $150,000 or less.
Buyers buy a $291,740 share of the home at a reduced cost with a $14,588 deposit. The trust retains ownership of the land, and the buyer buys a 100-year lease at lower than market rates. Weekly payments of $550 to $630, depending on scenario, are close to the average cost to rent.
