The Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust has announced GJ Gardner Homes as its partner in the first $2.2 million stage of the Lake Hayes Estate Village development.
Trust deputy chairman Barry Robertson said GJ Gardner had an "unsurpassable reputation" for building quality homes at affordable prices.
"This makes them a very attractive partner for the trust to team up with."
Laurie Mains, independent owner-operator of the Queenstown GJ Gardner franchise, said he was delighted to be a part of the trust's first development.
Stage one of the Nerin Square village site at Lake Hayes Estate would involve five terraced houses alongside Onslow Rd.
Each house would have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an individual freehold title and a market value of $455,000.
Programme co-ordinator Julie Scott said the trust hoped to start construction "in the next month or so".
"We are looking for prospective applicants to enter into the shared ownership programme for these stage one houses. As soon as we have some people signed up, we'll start building."
The trust was also considering applying for resource consent for a child-care centre on the village site and entering into a partnership with a developer.
Stage two would see another 25 houses built within the next 12 to 18 months, Miss Scott said.
"The amount applicants buy in depends on their income, deposit amount and household size, but the trust can contribute anywhere between 15% or 40%, leaving the homeowner to come up with 60% to 85% through a mortgage or deposit."
Miss Scott said 195 households were interested in the programme and 19 were now in homes in Queenstown and Wanaka.
Applicants were of all nationalities, including New Zealanders, and "absolutely everyone from teachers, tradespeople to more recent residents" had expressed interest, she said.
The independent non-profit organisation slightly changed its shared ownership programme eligibility criteria last November to encourage more buyers.
Previously, the trust had a combined household income limit of about $89,000, meaning families earning more than that amount were ineligible for the programme.
However, under the new model, the maximum household income threshold is determined by the number of individuals within the household.
The amended maximum figures now range from $86,000 for a single person household, up to $130,000 for a family of six.
