Banjo Balila, Amy Mayo-Balila and their 8-year-old son Emmanuel will move into their three-bedroom, two-storey house in Shotover Country next month.
It is one of the first six homes developed by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust under its Secure Home scheme.
The first of its kind in New Zealand, the scheme allows qualifying households on the trust's waiting list to buy the properties through a 100-year lease, while the trust keeps ownership of the land in perpetuity.
The land was given to the trust by Shotover Country's developers as part of the Queenstown Lakes District Council's special housing area process.
Showing the Otago Daily Times through his new home yesterday, Mr Balila said he ''can't explain the emotions'' of fulfilling the couple's dream of owning their own home.
''It's a big privilege - especially in Queenstown.''
They were now paying $460 a week for a two-bedroom apartment in Gorge Rd, which was about the same amount they would soon be paying for their weekly loan and ground rent payments.
After seven years on the trust's waiting list, they had used their KiwiSaver savings and an $18,000 Home Start grant from Housing New Zealand to buy the house, which came with curtains, carpet, landscaping and fencing.
They would no longer have to worry about rent rises or losing the lease on a rented property, and could decorate and improve their house to their hearts' content, he said.
Trust executive officer Julie Scott said the households were able to buy the homes, using their own mortgages and deposits, with an upfront payment set at the cost of building the house.
That now ranged from $320,000 for a two-bedroom property to $400,000 for a three-bedroom property.
They paid a ground rent set at 1.5% of the land's value, which was adjusted annually with inflation.
The properties could only be sold back to the trust at the original purchase price, plus inflation for the years the owners had occupied them.
It would then be sold to the next household on the trust's nearly 600-strong waiting list, which ensured the property remained affordable in perpetuity.
Ms Scott said the trust was expecting to receive titles for 14 sections in neighbouring Lake Hayes Estate about June, and six in Wanaka's Hikuwai subdivision in September.
It was also talking to the council about developing 65 Secure Homes in Jopp St, Arrowtown, and hoped to gradually increase the number of sections flowing into the scheme each year.
