Julie Scott: Community Housing Trust CEO on Queenstown's battle with affordable housing

Queenstown seems to be in a losing battle on affordable housing as its average property value crosses more than two million dollars. 

That's a 50% increase on 2019. 

The district's wait list for affordable homes has crossed 13-hundred eligible local families. 

And tourism operators have turned to buying empty hotels to house workers in. 

Community Housing Trust Chief Executive Julie Scott told Mike Hosking Airbnbs continue to be a major contributing issue. 

She says visitor accommodation is having long-term impacts on rental properties, with 27% of Queenstown homes unoccupied. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
New data on accommodation of Queenstown story. So far, we've
got reports of tourism operators this week buying up empty
hotels to help house staff because this is not a
new problem, of course. And this morning one roof has
an average house price now topping two million dollars average.
Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust Chief executive Julie Scott's with
us on this July Very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Good morning Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
So in totality you're winning.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Or losing, Well, we would probably have to say that
we're losing. At the moment, we're thirteen hundred households on
our waiting list. It's a pretty tough ask when property
prices are coming in at two million on average.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yeah, the Airbnb story, is that a major factor in
all of this or not? In other words, houses largely empty?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, absolutely it is. So. The last census STARTA told
us that twenty seven percent of homes in our district
are unoccupied. So we can certainly say that Airbnb and
those other visitor accommodation platforms are having an impact on
long term rental properties for our local families.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
They're purchasing of you, old hotels or whatever large bits
of accommodation by tourism operators. Is that a model? Is
that in some way, shape or form the future do
you think?

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Look, it definitely forms part of the future. So it
has had a positive impact on the seasonal worker accommodation.
Certainly if you look at some of the big businesses
in town, likes have ended ski you really indeed in
Skyline have all bought motels and backpackers and been contributing
and providing accommodation for their own staff, so that that
can only be a positive impact.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
How many rentals are available do you know right here,
right now, this morning? And do people have the money
for them?

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Look, I don't have those details on me.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
I don't care, but is everything tight? In other words,
if I turned up tomorrow to be a you know,
guy who works the ski lift at bucker Parper, it's
hard work.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, you might find yourself down at the Frankton Beach
for a couple of nights before you sought out accommodation.
It is very tough, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
Mind you, it's not I can't see how it changes.
Duly because you're one of the most beautiful parts of
the world and in all beautiful parts of the world,
whether it be Aspen or you know, the Italian or
French helps. Life's expensive. That's what happens, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
That's right, But it's also about supply and deman so
we do need to ensure that this more housing supply
is available to those workers and the districtor who need it.
So there is a number of leavers and tools that
we can use to achieve that. We've always argued that
there's no one silver bullet. There are different tools that
we can use.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Good on you, Julie, have a good day. Appreciate it.
Julie Scott, Queenstown Lakes Community Housing. For more from the
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