An ambitious project by the Fiordland Business Association (FBA) to establish much needed staff accommodation in Te Anau has stalled due to a lack of investor interest.

The initiative, in conjunction with South Canterbury's Genius Homes, could have seen up to 30 - one to three bedroom - prefabricated homes erected on an Alpine Drive site in Te Anau as early as November 2024.

However the proposal hinged on investors purchasing the finished and installed homes, valued at between $159,000 and $187,000, and paying their share of rental on the land for up to 20 years before being required to relocate them.

The proposed FBA development would have seen 30 homes erected for staff accommodation.

FBA chair Nathan Benfell said that while the response to the project had been encouraging, its viability had hinged on all 30 houses being purchased.

In October Benfell said there had been investor interest from as far afield as Auckland and a show home on site had attracted "amazing numbers".

However when the FBA made the call to postpone the project in December, Benfell could not say how many, if any, investors had actually signed up.

"We had some pretty tight timelines."

"Maybe it was our timeline, or maybe the problem has corrected itself. I doubt it," Benfell said.

“While it’s disappointing to pause the Fiordland Housing Project, we remain optimistic that this initiative could be reactivated in the future, either by the FBA, local authorities, or private enterprise."

In April 2024 spokesperson Nathan Benfell explains a Fiordland Business Association proposal to help solve Fiordland's immediate worker accommodation crisis. Photo: The Southland App

Benfell said the project had however stimulated people to start thinking outside the square, with some businesses now opting to build their own staff housing while staff or transportable options where also now being offered by some local builders.

The FBA is currently in the process of resurveying members to see whether there was still an accommodation problem and what it was about the original project that had not appealed, he said.