New green homes help plug rental gap

Three new social housing homes are set to help Blenheim families in need.

The Marlborough Sustainable Housing Trust homes are expected to be ready for new families by next summer.

Situated on Hutcheson Street, the new homes will be let out at below market rental rates.

Trust chair Dr Bev James says there’s a huge need for affordable rentals in Marlborough.

“We have one in five renter households paying more than half their incomes in rent,” she says.

The environmentally friendly homes include photo-voltaic roof panels to reduce power bills, and a Homestar 6 rating for energy efficiency/sustainability.

Funding has come from the Rātā Foundation with support from the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development.

On Wednesday, the building team and contractors held a roof shout as the solar panels were put in place.

Contractor Mike Greer Homes have made cracking progress with the builds which only got above slab level this year, Bev says.

“It was really nice to acknowledge all the tradies who’ve been working hard to put up these homes so fast.

“It was especially good that Mayor Nadine Taylor was able to come – she’s been very supportive of this project.”

The Trust is currently working on a funding application for their next affordable housing development.

If you have a large section and were interested in supporting such a project, please contact Bev - [email protected] or 027 2478353.