Frequently Asked Questions
Once you are on our waitlist, the length of time you will need to wait for a home is dependent on several factors. Check out our Home Allocation Process to understand what is involved in allocating a home to households.
All we need from you, is to keep us updated. If your contact details change, or you have a significant change in your income or deposit/savings, please let us know. We can only work off the information you provide us, so to put yourself in the best possible position of being offered a home that is right for you, please keep us updated of any changes to your situation.
Secure Home is an assisted ownership programme based on a leasehold ownership tenure. You pay an upfront payment (purchase price) for the home based on its construction costs only. The banks may require a 20% deposit, however if you qualify for the Government's First Home Loan initiative, your deposit requirement is reduced to as low as 5%. There is also a monthly ground rent payment to QLCHT for use of the land.
QLCHT has a range of housing programmes, all carefully designed to meet the needs of those in our community who qualify for housing assistance. Provided you continue to meet your agreed obligations as an occupant, once in a QLCHT home you have a secure, long-term tenancy.
QLCHT is a community owned, not-for-profit organisation that provides secure and affordable housing to those living in the Queenstown Lakes District.
As a registered Community Housing Provider, QLCHT operates within the requirements of the Community Housing Regulatory Authority.
We are accountable to many groups of people and organisations. Our community, those in our homes, local Council, central Government, our financiers and funders, our governing body, the Community Housing Regulatory Authority, our wider sector and peak body, Community Housing Aotearoa.
Everyone on our waiting list receives a quarterly update via email. If you're on our waiting list and not receiving the update, please check your junk/spam, or check that we have your correct email address.
If you're not on our waiting list you can email admin@qlcht.org.nz and ask to start receiving our quarterly updates.
Or you can view our most recent quarterly update here.
We are very fortunate to have the support of our local council, developers and central Government. QLCHT receives land contributions from developers through an inclusionary housing process, as developers seek to upzone their land for residential housing. QLDC facilitates this process on behalf of the community.
We have also purchased homes on the open market. In 2021, we purchased 50 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units in the Toru apartments, and provided them to our community as rentals and for purchase through our assisted ownership programme, Secure Home.
We also receive funding for various programmes and projects from the New Zealand Government via the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
You can learn more here about our supporters and funders.
Firstly, you need to register your interest.
Once you've registered, one of our team will call you within a few weeks to assess your eligibility. If you're eligible for housing assistance, you will be added to our waiting list straight away and start receiving quarterly updates via email.
At the time we allocate homes, we'll email all those on our waiting list who appear to be suitable for the home, in terms of its size and location, inviting expressions of interest. For all those that come back to us we then work out who will be invited to formally apply for a home, as per our policy on allocation of properties.
All you need to do is make sure we have your most current details and keep an eye out for our emails inviting expressions of interest for particular homes or developments. You can keep up to date with our developments on our website, or via our latest newsletter.
At QLCHT we are pet friendly, so yes you can.
Although tenants will still need to seek our permission prior to getting a pet, as we require our households to be responsible pet owners. This means taking good care of your pets, making sure they are not a danger to anyone, or a nuisance and putting right any damage caused by your pet, should it occur.
If you have a spare bedroom in your home, then you can have a flatmate or boarder living with you to assist with costs. Tenants will need to complete a form advising us of your intention to do so. Assisted ownership households do not need to advise us.
Our homes are located across the Queenstown Lakes District; Queenstown, Arrowtown, Mt Cardrona, Wānaka, Hāwea. You can look at our developments page to learn about homes we've already constructed, and more homes currently under construction.
All our homes are well-constructed. We aim to build well above building code and exceed the Healthy Homes Standards. They are fully completed inside and out, including curtains and blinds, dishwasher, rangehood, efficient heating, oven and stove top, washing lines, landscaping, fencing, concrete driveways and either a garage or carport. They also have fibre broadband installed. Our homes are slightly more compact in order to maintain affordability, but they will have all you need to be comfortable, warm and dry.
All of our tenancies provide housing security, providing you continue to meet all your obligations, there is no end to your tenancy. As with any landlord in New Zealand, we are required to follow the rules set out under the Residential Tenancies Act.
We offer a variety of rental programmes that sit on a housing continuum. Each rental programme is carefully designed, with specific benefits encouraging those in our homes to advance their financial position and progress towards assisted ownership, should they wish to.
You can find out more about our housing programmes here.
As with any landlord in New Zealand, we are required to follow the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA).
Our rental programmes provide a five-year fixed-term tenancy, at which point they then convert to a periodic tenancy. So long as you continue to meet your obligations as a tenant, our rental programmes can provide secure housing for life, with an opportunity to progress to assisted ownership, if you wish to.
If you breach the tenancy law, then we have the right to address this through the RTA.
We provide a variety of rental programmes, each carefully designed to ensure that whatever your financial position, there is an appropriate rental programme for you. All our rental programmes provide an opportunity to progress along the housing continuum, if you wish to. Listed below are our current rental programmes:
Each year we review our rents, consulting a variety of independent sources to establish market rents. However, we don't seek to profit by charging the highest rents possible and therefore we position our rents in the lower quartile of market range.
Additionally, there are various financial benefits to each of our rental programmes, some of which reduce the rent further.
Public Housing Rental provides an income related rent, set by the Ministry of Social Development, typically at 25% of household income.
Affordable Rental provides an income-tested rent subsidy of up to 20%.
Rent Saver market rent is charged, however a matched savings incentive is provided.
The costs to move into a QLCHT home are typically the same as with any rented or purchased home.
When moving into a rental property, there is your first weeks rent (to be paid in advance), along with a bond of four weeks rent (which you can transfer from your previous rental property). There're also the usual costs involved in moving, such as setting up power and internet.
When purchasing one of our assisted ownership homes, there's the initial settlement amount to be paid, which is made up of the agreed purchase price, pro-rated Ground Rent for the first month, pro-rated local rates and regional rates, and pro-rated body corporate levies (where applicable). We also suggest keeping around $5,000 aside for additional costs such as your house insurance premium, solicitor's legal fees and moving costs such as setting up power and internet.
We expect all occupants in our homes whether renting or owning, to take good care of the homes. This means keeping them reasonably clean and tidy, inside and out.
The maintenance obligations between landlords and tenants are set out in the Residential Tenancies Act. You can refer to the Tenancy Services website for more detailed information.
Tenants must immediately report any maintenance items to QLCHT. The cost of any maintenance resulting from fair wear and tear will be taken care of by QLCHT. The cost of repairing any damage whether intentional or accidental is the responsibility of the tenant. QLCHT may be able to make an insurance claim for any damage, but the tenant would need to pay the excess.
Outside, the tenant is responsible for maintaining the lawns, weeding the gardens and keeping the grounds tidy. Care of trees and hedges is the responsibility of QLCHT.
Under our assisted ownership terms, the occupant is responsible for the full upkeep and maintenance of the home and land, just as any homeowner would be. You are required to have house insurance in place, which provides full cover for damage to the home (not wear and tear).
The Secure Home agreement has a maintenance schedule attached to it, setting out maintenance expectations and estimated costs. As set out in the Secure Home agreement, these scheduled maintenance costs are factored into the buy-back price of the home.
To assist with maintenance upkeep, we arrange for annual inspections of all our assisted ownership homes, with a report provided back to the household identifying any maintenance that needs taking care of. The inspections are a great way to stay on top of maintenance and keep it manageable.
Our Secure Home page has further detailed information.
QLCHT currently offers one assisted ownership programme, called Secure Home. It's an affordable, assisted ownership based on a leasehold type model, whereby you purchase the building, but not the land, with a 100-year lease registered in your name.
You can learn more here about our Secure Home programme here, including an indication of cost.
All our tenancies allow for a tenant to be away from their home for a maximum of 28 days in any 12-month period. You're not allowed to use your home for short-term visitor accommodation, such as Airbnb, or sublet your home during this period.
The Residential Tenancy Agreements for each of our rental programmes, set out more detailed information about the terms of our tenancies. You can view these under each of the specific programmes.
If you're in assisted ownership with us and you need to leave town for a while, we strongly encourage you to come and speak to us so we can discuss options.
In short, no it can't. If you were to die, QLCHT would purchase the house back as per the terms of our Secure Home Agreement, and the funds would go to your estate, to be distributed as per your directions.
As there are specific eligibility criteria for each of our housing programmes, we will always go through a thorough application process to ensure eligibility is met. For these reasons, there's never an automatic passing on of properties.
For those in our assisted ownership homes, you are allowed to make home improvements, however there are rules around this and how it is accounted for. It is important you check these rules before going ahead with any home improvements.
It may be that the costs of your intended home improvements will be factored into the buyback of your home, and therefore the costs recouped.
View our Secure Home agreement for more detailed information.
If you are a tenant renting one of our homes, then no you can't.
If you own your home through our assisted ownership programme Secure Home, then yes you can. But only for a maximum of 28 days, unless with our prior approval.
QLCHT ultimately retains ownership of the assisted ownership properties, so that the community continues to benefit from these homes into the future.
For anyone in these homes under Secure Home, you are committed to living there for the first three years. Beyond that, you can exit at any time and sell the house back to QLCHT, so that it can be offered to another qualifying household.
Once we receive notice in writing that you wish to sell the home back to us, we will calculate the reversion (buyback) amount, with the transaction taking place no earlier than 28 days later. You will receive back the amount you paid for your home, plus an inflation adjustment for the time you've owned the home, along with any improvements and maintenance costs factored in.
The Secure Home Agreement sets out the reversion calculation in more detail.
This is a possibility, but it depends largely on the circumstances and the availability of homes.
We are aware that household needs can change over time and where possible we try to support this through the ability to move to another more suitable home. However, it is always on a case-by-case basis, where there are legitimate and practical reasons to support the change.
