The hammer is yet to fall on Otago Polytechnic’s final charity house, which received no bids during Saturday’s auction, although offers on the three-bedroom, two-bathroom relocatable home are in the works.
The charity house initiative was established by the polytechnic to give carpentry and He Toki carpentry students an opportunity to build a fully functioning house.
Interior materials were supplied by local companies.
Polytechnic head of carpentry Tracey McLennan said the annual project was a great way for students to experience the full house building process.
"It really unites the students together and makes them so proud of what they achieve," Miss McLennan said.
"They do become a team as part of this."
For the past 18 years, the house was sold to the general public at auction, and any profit given to the Catalytic Foundation, which distributed the money to charities throughout Otago.
However last month, the polytech announced Saturday’s auction would be the last, citing rising material and compliance costs — a sign of the times, Miss McLennan said.
About $1.7 million had been redistributed to Otago organisations in that time — "it’s incredible what these people are doing in the community and they’re the glue that holds everything together", Mr Gallaher said.
He hoped the programme could one day return in some form.
About 25 people were at Saturday’s auction, but a starting price of $300,000 for the charity home, which dropped to $250,000, attracted no bids.
Another student-built house to be sold for cost, with starting price of $200,000, also had no takers.
Auctioneer and Bayleys Dunedin managing director Chris Maclean said the properties would be passed on to the polytechnic, who would negotiate with prospective buyers one-on-one.
The lack of bids reflected a building market where confidence had not fully returned, he said.
"I’m confident that we’ll have results on these over the next week," Mr Maclean said.
"We’ve got a few people that are interested but couldn’t be unconditional — that’s more so the market now."
