There’s been investor interest from as far away as Auckland, Timaru and Invercargill in the Fiordland Housing Project’s 30-home development with the first Genius show home in town at the weekend attracting almost 200 people.

Fiordland Business Association chair Nathan Benfell says they’ve had “amazing numbers” through the show home which was open on display on Friday and Saturday.

The response has been so big that they’ll be keeping it in Te Anau for longer, he says.

More potentially interested parties were set to view it yesterday (Tuesday, 1 October).

“We’ve had a lot of response from all over, from first home buyers and those looking toward retirement and downsizing the family home, to investors and businesspeople looking for desperately needed staff accommodation, and others just wanting to support the community,” he says.

“There’s been a lot of inquiry from Auckland from potential investors responding to our Google ads which is impressive,” Benfell says.

Nathan Benfell at the door of the first Genius show home in town. Photo: Supplied

“Obviously people are looking astutely at investing and buying in, knowing they’ll get an instant rental income.”

Real estate rental appraisals showed that investors could expect rental incomes of between $280 and $330 a week for a one bedroom or $360 to $440 for a two-bedroom.

Genius Homes Managing Director Kinglsey Smith says about seven of the necessary 30 purchasers have already committed by signing a confirmation of intent.

Among them are local small business owners and investors, with interest from a few homeowners too.

However, Smith says they need all 30 signed up to keep the prices as low as they’ve been set to ensure the project is cost effective and viable.

“Getting that commitment is important and we’d encourage everyone to get behind the project and support it,” he says.

“Our team have put a lot of time and effort into this great project and we’re looking forward to delivering on it.”

Smith says he’s been buoyed by the very positive response so far.

The homes can be built in overlapping batches of 10, cutting the lead-in time considerably.

Benfell says with such keen interest it’s possible that the prefabricated houses could be moved onto the Fiordland Museum Trust land in Alpine Drive by January at the earliest.

That’s providing the necessary Southland District Council building consents can be signed off by Christmas.

“Genius are pretty quick at turning these homes out,” Benfell says.

“They manufacture them in lots and have a building inspector coming into their Timaru factory daily which greatly reduces the wait,” he says.

“Potentially people could be in these homes on site in January.”

Buyers would lease the land on the museum site, which Benfell says already has district council approval. It’s understood the Trust would use the profits as a fundraiser toward building a museum.

Prices for the one and two-bedroom homes start at $178,000 ranging up to $198,000, making them a very affordable option for locals and investors, he says.

The Business Association came up with the concept late last year when a survey revealed a desperate cry from the community for Fiordland’s worsening staff accommodation crisis to be addressed.

The Museum Trust and Genius then got on board and a Preliminary Information Memorandum was sought from the district council which has been fully supportive of the proposal, Benfell says.

Property sources say the project would definitely take the pressure off Fiordland’s rental housing situation.

A key requirement is that owners or investors must ensure at least one tenant or resident in these homes is residing and working in the Fiordland area. “Otherwise, it would defeat the whole purpose of this which is to address a dire shortage of long-term rental accommodation,” Benfell says.

He says he’s hearing daily about rental tenants losing their homes as landlords and homeowners opt out of the long-term rental market and into short-term options like Airbnb. “It’s very disappointing that nothing’s been done to address this Airbnb problem by either local or central government.”

The association board is meeting today (Tuesday, 1 October) to strategise and work out its plan for the project moving forward, but Benfell says the current prices are obviously reliant upon getting that buy-in from 30 buyers so that the project can proceed.

After the weekend’s amazing response to the showhome he was feeling pretty hopeful that that could soon be achieved.