Bridge Housing brings affordable homes to Te Awamutu after success in Cambridge

The organisation behind Cambridge’s Peake Mews project has extended its reach to the other side of the Waipā District with the purchase of homes on Ōhaupō Rd.

Bridge Housing uses a European-type home ownership model to make it affordable to become a homeowner.

Their target market is first-home buyers, although subsequent home buyers can be considered if their situation has changed, and the priority is for Māori, Pasifika and families with children.

The Ōhaupō Rd properties are apartments built on the former Hodgson Motors and neighbouring residential properties.

Hamilton-based Da-Silva Builders built 36 homes of around 80 square metres each with a dedicated off-street car park in a central parking area.

Carli Nolan is in charge of housing support for Bridge Housing. She said Da-Silva Builders offered the organisation to purchase some of the homes at a generous price.

“The homes are similar to those we have at Peake Mews and the price meant it would fit into our Secure Homes Programme parameters,” she said.

“We purchased 20 of the 36 homes and can now offer them for sale under our programme.”

Bridge Housing sells the homes for about half their value and uses a leasehold system for the land.

Owners pay rates, the body corporate fee (including insurance) and a small amount of ground rent but have the advantage of a reduced mortgage and can build equity in their property.

The Te Awamutu homes will sell for $291,750 and are available with a 5 per cent deposit of $14,588.

Nolan said the lease is for 100 years and costs 2 per cent of the trust’s share per year, that being the other half of the total value of the property.

“Buyers have security of tenure on a 100-year lease and can stay as long as they like, without risk of eviction from a landlord,” she said.

“We have done the calculations, and the owner would be paying the equivalent amount to renting a two-bedroom house, but with the advantage of ownership.

“If they want to leave, they sell back to Bridge Housing for the original value plus increases based on CPI, but with a guarantee they will get at least what they paid.”

“The new owner buys at the new price and gets a new 100-year lease.”

Nolan is the face of the project for prospective buyers and helps people where needed, for example with completing applications or finance through an arrangement with Westpac and lawyers. She also arranges viewings.

Anyone interested can go to bridgehousing.co.nz to start the process online.

Bridge Housing does not operate on a profit model. They are backed by the Brian Perry Trust and a $4 million interest-free loan from the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development.

The model is believed to be the second of its type in New Zealand, although Nolan said the concept of leasehold is common in Auckland.

Nolan said inquiries for the two-bedroom Te Awamutu homes are steady.

In Cambridge, the second stage of Peake Mews is under way.

There will be two new blocks: one two-storey block of two-bedroom homes and one three-storey block of four-bedroom homes.

Stage one was eight homes, stage two adds another 10 homes. The plan for the site is for 47 homes in total.

Next for Bridge Housing is an inner city 42-apartment block on the Tristram St property they own and where their headquarters is located.

Dean Taylor is a community journalist with more than 35 years of experience and is editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and Waikato Herald.