Couple first to get into home with city subsidy

Archaeologists Daniel and Leah McCurdy have bought a $445,000 house for just over $300,000 thanks to an "affordable housing" scheme subsidised by Auckland City ratepayers.

The couple, aged 31 and 25, will move in about five weeks into the first house to be built under the controversial shared-equity scheme approved by Mayor Dick Hubbard before the last council elections in 2007.

Incoming mayor John Banks promised to scrap the scheme if elected, but found that he had to honour a contract signed a few days before the election with the New Zealand Housing Foundation, a charitable trust which has built similar shared-equity homes in West Auckland.

But it scaled the project back from 100 houses part-financed by $9 million from the council over 10 years to 30 houses with only $3.8 million from ratepayers over three years.

Plans for a major subdivision in Denny Ave, Mt Roskill, were scrapped. Instead the foundation is buying individual sites in cheaper parts of Auckland City such as Avondale, Otahuhu and Mt Wellington.

To read the full NZ Herald stroy click here

Posted: 10 Aug 2009

News articles