Two Queenstown couples are heartbroken after a proposed affordable housing project has been pulled by the developer.
Katie Bowden-Tregoat, who was proposing to buy the property with husband Ste Tregoat, found out her homeowner dream was shattered via voicemail on Friday afternoon.
While the message from the estate agent was "very lovely'', they have been left "gutted''.
The couple bid for the property in October last year and have been frustrated with delays. She places the blame firmly at the Queenstown Lakes District Council's door.
"We've no gripe with the developers, I don't blame them. I think they put their heart and soul into doing everything they could. They were trying to do good by first-time home buyers and council has given them too many hurdles to get over.''
Queenstown has been home for 10 years but the pair will reassess if they can afford to remain in the resort.
"We honestly do not know what we are going to do.
"We don't want to move but we are running out of options here. I cried and cried a lot when I found out.
"We got married back in April and thought, ‘yeah, we are getting married and buying our first house', now we are going, ‘what do we do now?'.''
The nine-month waiting period also means they have missed the boat on property at Hanley's Farm, Bridesdale Farm and the next stage of Shotover Country.
They are also $1800 out of pocket on legal fees.
Fiona and Aiden Garde are in the same position.
Mrs Garde said the situation seemed ridiculous given the "dire need of affordable housing in Queenstown''.
While she understood certain processes were required, she believed the council should have done more to prevent it getting to this stage.
"There must be some way they can work with the developer to get it through. Thirty-two families have lost out. We were 99% sure it would go ahead. Surely the council can't let this slip through the net.''
- Louise Scott
