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A dilapidated Canterbury house has been sold to help with the fight against bone marrow cancer.
The Trices Rd property, close to Birchs Rd, Prebbleton, was gifted to the Bone Marrow Cancer Research Trust in 2024 through the former owners’ estate. The gifting had been written into their will.
It has now been sold, with about $800,000 of the $825,000 sale price going to the trust.
The 1920s home, surrounded by Kevlar Homes Birchs Green subdivision, is likely to be demolished to make way for a new build.
Trust chief executive Mandy Kennedy said it was a “wonderful gift”.
“We can make (the money) work really hard for us. It was an incredibly generous and thoughtful gift.”
She said the intention was to always sell the property for the betterment of bone marrow cancer research.
Kennedy said the trust’s advisory group will decide how the money is spent.
Generally donations are put into research into bone cancer and other related cancers. It can include summer research projects for students and travel grants to attend national and international scientific meetings.
The most common type of bone marrow cancer is multiple myeloma. In New Zealand, about 450 people are diagnosed each year.
Auctioneer Phil McGoldrick said about five people made bids for the property on its auction day.
“It was fortuitous for the (trust) that in the time they waited the huge development started all around it and eventually became the last parcel that wasn’t developed,” he said.
McGoldrick said the couple who bought the 1200sq m section were happy to find out where the money was going.
Harcourts agent Alison Aitken knew it would be popular given the lack of large parcels of land remaining in Prebbleton.
“It was to get a great result for the trust,” she said.