The Directors have met tonight and discussed the situation regarding banks not being willing to give mortgages to a number of cohousers. We recognise that this is a situation which is causing a lot of anxiety, and we are working hard to find a good solution for everyone.

Stephen Edge has said that having a covenant on the title and in the body corp is the most secure way to embed cohousing in the future of our neighbourhood. He is working to ensure that Kiwibank will be able to come up with a solution, and has requested further information from Earthsong who have been able to obtain mortgages from Kiwibank and other sources. The directors will be talking directly with Stephen in the next few days.

There are ongoing approaches to other banks as well.

Changing the documentation to delete the covenant from the unit titles will take a considerable amount of time and expense, and will require everyone to re-sign our agreements. We would only want to do this as a last resort. 

It seems likely that settlement won’t be until the end of February and so we have time to work through step by step. We are asking for your patience.

Warm regards,