21 Jul 2016

Charity offers Auckland apartments on the cheap

8:18 am on 21 July 2016

In a unique bid to tackle Auckland's housing woes, a private school charitable trust is offering first-home buyers the chance to buy an apartment in a proposed west Auckland complex for $550,000.

Open home sign at a house for sale in East Auckland

Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

The West Evangelical Schools Trust is offering 30 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom apartments for sale.

The fixed price is at least $150,000 below market value.

The Trust said it was not aiming to maximise profit, but any profits would go into its two private Christian schools.

Its chairperson, Alan Henry, said buyers could, on a first-in-first-served basis, pick which apartment they wanted, but they must be buying their first home, and they must stay in it for five years.

Mr Henry said he hoped the project would be the start of a trend.

Construction on the apartments is set to start early next year.