Providing secure, long-term housing solutions for a stronger community.

First established in 2017, the Waiheke Community Housing Trust is a charitable trust formed by a proactive group of community members determined to make a difference for Waiheke families.

Waiheke Community Housing Trust provides secure, long-term rental housing for Waiheke's permanent community. We work to keep households who live and work on the island on the island, and to increase the supply of affordable, quality homes.

Waiheke does not have enough long-term rental housing. Every year, Waiheke loses affordable housing and it becomes harder to replace. Homes are converted to short-stay visitor accommodation, and households who have lived and worked here for years are displaced to the mainland. This means rising prices for rental accommodation and long-term residents being pushed off the island, eroding our community of families and skilled and essential workers.

We're taking action to solve the island's housing crisis by providing affordable, quality housing solutions. And we're doing that by working within the community, with the landowners, landlords, residents and regulators, to make the best use of what we have, while finding ways to build more of what we need.

WCHT envisions a future where our efforts lead to a more inclusive and thriving island community, where everyone has access to affordable and secure housing.

Aims of the Housing Trust:

• To add affordable, quality homes to Waiheke’s housing stock.

• To partner with property owners to create options for more long-term affordable, quality rentals.

• To advocate for changes necessary to make developing and providing affordable, quality housing easier.

Sandy Foster

Chairperson

Sandy has been developing affordable and complex commercial housing in New Zealand for 30 years. He joined the New Zealand Housing Foundation's board in 2018 and has chaired it since 2020, steering one of the country's largest community housing providers, which supports families into home ownership through shared equity and rent-to-own programmes.

Alongside this, Sandy is Executive Director of Aegis Retirement Living, a retirement village company, and sits on the board of the Carlaw Heritage Trust.

Trained as a civil engineer, he brings decades of executive leadership, financial acumen and sharp strategic thinking to the table, along with a deep commitment to housing equity and advocacy for the importance of safe, secure and affordable housing for long-term societal well-being.

Nora West

Trustee

Nora has lived between Waiheke and Auckland City since 1985. She bought her first property here on the island in 1992 for $32k. She has been a community activist, artist, and banner-maker working in the fields of prison and mental health. Nora was the Arts Manager for the KRd Business Association and is a member of Upcycle Redesign,  an island-based craft collective.

Mike Davis

Trustee

Mike has forty years’ experience in construction in hands-on building and technical design. Since 2016 his work has been focused on delivering social housing, community and public infrastructure.

Mike moved to Waiheke just prior to the WCHT's inception in 2017. On Waiheke, the housing situation has deteriorated in that time, and the lack of affordable housing on our island is leading to poor health outcomes and a lack of community resilience. These are two of the negative effects on individuals, and on our community.

Craig Brown

Trustee

Craig has lived on Waiheke since 2004 with his partner and two secondary school-aged children. Although they now live the good life on a big steep block of land richly covered by gorse and chickens, his life began in a boarding house with his mother. By the age of eight, he’d lived in at least six different homes, all with significant flaws (one home was burgled six times in just one year). Craig has seen far too many people leave the island for economic and housing-related reasons, including medical workers, teachers, and other essential members of a strong and functioning community.

Craig is determined that the WCHT will increase the supply of affordable, quality housing on Waiheke in ways that are both suitable for our community and that are repeatable or scalable. He brings to his trustee role his background as an on-site wastewater and stormwater engineer and the accompanying knowledge of building, planning, and consenting systems.

Steph Cox

Trustee

Steph is an experienced occupational therapist and educator with a particular interest in disability rights and improving accessibility of buildings. She has worked in various settings, serving individuals of all ages and addressing a wide range of disabilities. While maintaining her practice, she completed her Master's and PhD degrees. She is passionate about improving services and advocating for societal change.

Damian Sycamore

General Manager

Damian lives on Waiheke with his partner and young family. He moved here permanently in 2018, but his connection to the island stretches back over 30 years.

He brings his experience gained from working in the tech industry - specialising in operations, software, and construction - to take the lead in executing the Trust’s vision. He handles all aspects of project management, property management, advocacy strategies, and public relations.

Damian gets that Waiheke’s housing situation is complicated, but he firmly believes it’s solvable now and for the long term. He knows this requires a total community effort, and is committed to bringing everyone along.

Our Purpose

The objects of the Trust, set out in clause 3 of the Trust Deed, are the alleviation of poverty and the relief of housing stress on Waiheke Island through the provision of Social Housing and Affordable Rental Housing; increasing the supply of that housing through development; promoting sustainable, energy efficient housing; working with government, local authorities and other agencies; and designing and managing programmes that assist low income households into housing.

This is how the Trust pursues those objects day to day.

• Property management: WCHT places households who have lived and worked on Waiheke in secure, long-term tenancies. The Trust charges a lower management fee than commercial agencies, and that saving is passed through to the tenant as a weekly rent reduction rather than retained by the Trust. This is the direct relief of housing stress under clause 3.1, supported by the programmes under 3.5 and the wider activities contemplated by 3.6.

• Development: The Trust's development work increases the supply of affordable rental housing on the island under clause 3.2, and is designed to be sustainable and energy efficient under clause 3.3.

• Partnerships: WCHT works with local authorities, social agencies and other charitable bodies under clause 3.4, including its partnership with Waiheke Budgeting Services and its participation in the Housing on Island group.

• Current position: Rents across the current portfolio are reduced, but are not yet within reach of the lowest-income households. Building the Trust's capacity to develop and hold its own stock is what closes that gap. The Board records progress toward it and reviews the position annually.

Ngā mihi.

General Enquiries

Contact our team by submitting this general enquiries form.