The desperate need for affordable housing in the Waikato has driven a local charitable Trust to launch an ambitious development in the Waikato town of Cambridge. The Bridge Housing Trust, set up by The Brian Perry Charitable Trust, is to develop a brand new, 42-home community in Cambridge.

Peake Mews, will offer affordable, architecturally designed housing in an innovative, vibrant, and connected community. The site will include blocks of terraced 2 and 3 bedroom houses, with the master plan to incorporate, gardens and areas for outdoor active recreation.

At least half of the homes will be sold on the open market and the rest will be sold through a secured housing model, developed to create an alternative option to home ownership. The key objective is to create an integrated vibrant neighbourhood, providing secure and healthy homes, compact yet well-designed with great communal spaces. The outcome;

diverse communities with a range of leasehold and freehold models and collaborative partnerships to maximise long-term impact and security for the owners.

Jennifer Palmer, General Manager of The Brian Perry Charitable Trust, explains, “The Bridge Housing Trust was set up in late 2021 with the sole objective of doing something positive and lasting in the Waikato community to help combat the dire housing situation.”

She says, “Research carried out by the Waikato Housing Initiative shows, the average Waikato house cost more than 17x the annual minimum wage. The number of properties in the hands of investors increased 191% between 1986 and 2018. Investors now own over a quarter of the occupied housing stock and the number of entry-level homes in Hamilton (<$500K) dropped from 84% in 2014 to 3% in 2021.”

And she emphasises the problem isn’t going away, “The Waikato Housing Initiative found there to be a shortage of 7,500 houses in the Waikato today, with more than 50,000 new homes needed by 2043.”

Jennifer Palmer adds, “The key focus of Brian Perry Charitable Trust is to make the community we live in, better to live in. Like many others, our Trustees, feel disillusioned by the grim statistics showing that home ownership is getting further and further out of reach for many New Zealanders. It’s reached breaking point. We set up the Bridge Housing Trust to look for solutions and had to think outside the box. We looked at models around the world that approach this problem differently and found the secured housing model.”

“The objective of Secure Home is to provide quality, affordable housing, as well as long-term housing stability and security in the same way that freehold home ownership does.

“Proven successful overseas, the concept is relatively new to New Zealand, it was however successfully implemented by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust. The model has been operating successfully there for a number of years and we have partnered with Queenstown to learn from them.”

The Bridge Housing Trust has commissioned an award winning architectural firm to design the community and have partnered with a local building firm, with 20-years’ experience, to carry out construction.

Peake Mews is the first initiative to be launched by the Trust that plans to roll out the model throughout the Waikato. The first 13 freehold properties at Peake Mews have been released to the market with expected completion of this first tranche of home to be in May 2023.

Sacha Webb from Cambridge Real Estate who is selling the freehold titles says, “There’s a real need for affordable housing in Cambridge, like everywhere in New Zealand, we’ve seen a huge increase in house prices and a lot of people have been priced out of the market.

“This is a very exciting venture. The Brian Perry Charitable Trust has carried out some incredible projects in our community, such as the Avantidrome and our new Te Awa River Cycleway. These projects are always done to a very high standard and have had a hugely positive impact on our community. It’s essential in real estate to look at things differently, so to be on project that’s creating solutions to address the affordability crisis, is extremely rewarding.”

The Bridge Housing Trust is currently taking registrations for those interested in applying for the secured home ownership option. The criteria and application process is outlined their website, bridgehousing.co.nz

Notes:

What is the Secure Homes Program?

Secure homes is an assisted ownership programme

The objective of Secure Home is to provide quality, affordable housing, as well as long-term housing stability and security in the same way that freehold home ownership does.

Has a secure homes model been done before?

Relatively new to New Zealand, the Secure Home model was developed by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust and has been operating successfully there for a number of years. The model is popular overseas.

How does it work?

The qualifying family buys the home at cost to construct. If it cost the developer $400,000 to build the home, that’s what the purchaser pays.

Bridge Trust owns the land on which the home sits.

The family buys a 100 year lease to the land – this is set at well below market rates and only increases at the CPI rate each year.

The family pays its mortgage on the home, rates, insurance and the ground lease – in most cases, this works out to be less than a rental equivalent in the same market

When the family decides to leave the home, it sells the house back to Bridge Trust at the original price, plus CPI.

Bridge Trust then sells the home to the next qualifying family

Who is eligible?

To be eligible to apply for Secure Home you must first meet the following basic criteria:

• The property must be used exclusively as the household’s primary residence and must not be vacated by the household for any more than four weeks over a 12 month period.
• The applicant’s combined household income must not exceed a certain level, which is determined by the size of the household.
• At least one person from the household entering into the Secure Home Agreement must be a New Zealand resident or citizen.
• Once the above eligibility criteria have been met, you must then show that you can meet the specific financial requirements of the Secure Home Programme, which includes bank approval for a home loan.
• The Secure Home must be the resident’s only property; if you already own a home or land, you are ineligible for the Secure Home Programme.

How Does it Work?

Secure Home is based on a leasehold agreement between the Housing Trust and the household. Here it is explained;

Essentially, the Trust retains full ownership of the property and the household purchases the right to occupy that property at the cost of house construction (excluding land). The household then pays an annual ground rent to the Trust for use of the land, which is set well below market value and only ever increases annually with inflation for the period the household remains in the programme. This ensures the initial purchase price (Upfront Payment) and ongoing ground rent remain affordable for the household in perpetuity.

The Secure Home agreement provides a 100-year lease, which provides the household with a home for their lifetime. Secure Home is not a rental arrangement. A household in the Secure Home programme has all the benefits and responsibilities any home owner has, except the ability to on-sell the property in the private market.

The lease cannot be transferred or on-sold on the open market, but should a household decide to move on, the Trust will purchase the house back at the original purchase price, plus an annual inflation adjustment (provided the house has been well maintained). If the household has made any improvements to the property which the Trust has approved, then these too will be factored into the resale price.

The Secure Home Agreement has been reviewed and accepted by one of the largest residential lenders in Australasia.

How much do the Freehold properties cost?

The first stage of Peake Mews, is now available to purchase off plan, with a selection of two and three bedroom homes on offer.

Architecturally designed with quality fixtures and fittings and a considered neutral colour palette.

• The two bedroom, one bathroom units are priced at $750,000.
• The three bedroom stand-alone units are priced at $800,000.

There is a draft body corporate budget available.

About The Bridge Housing Trust

The Bridge Housing Trust is an initiative of the Brian Perry Charitable Trust that was established 2021. The Brian Perry Charitable Trust launched Bridge Housing to support Kiwi families into modern, healthy homes at an achievable price point. Peake Mews is the Trust’s first development. The aim to create a community built on the key pillars of affordability, liveability and sustainability. The key driver and belief is that the Trust believes that resilient and empowered communities start with access to quality homes. READ MORE @ bridgehousing.co.nz

About the Brian Perry Charitable Trust

The Brian Perry Charitable Trust has developed partnerships with a number of outstanding local organisations and supports a wide range of community-driven projects. The trust also initiates its own community endeavours and partners with Perry businesses on worthwhile ventures that reflect their values. READ MORE @ perry.co.nz

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