\u201cWe build homes and we sell them for market value, and then I chip in a hundred grand towards the mortgage or the deposit. It gives them a bigger deposit, a smaller mortgage, and they can generally buy a home for less than they\u2019re paying in rent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fewtrell, who made his fortune as founder of hospitality supply giant Southern Hospitality, is now using it to tackle what he sees as one of New Zealand\u2019s biggest inequities: the near-impossibility for ordinary working people to buy their first home.<\/p>\n
Retired businessman Roger Fewtrell, 76. Photo \/ Ben Tomsett<\/p>\n
\u201cIn New Zealand, you\u2019ve got K\u0101inga Ora and people like that at the bottom of the cliff looking after those who\u2019ve got nothing,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut people, probably a bit like you \u2013 working hard, trying to buy your own home, no one helps them at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the next decade, he intends to build 250 homes and lose $25 million doing it. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the budget, to lose $25m,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019ll get 250 couples into new houses, and Dunedin needs new housing stock. Dunedin\u2019s been good to me, so it\u2019s nice to put something back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The idea came to him after selling his company to a French private equity firm several years ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey paid a good price for it,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I\u2019m 76. What are you gonna do with all the money?\u201d<\/p>\n
So he drew up what he calls \u201ca pretty simple plan\u201d. <\/p>\n
Fewtrell\u2019s life is a study in self-made wealth. <\/p>\n
He arrived in Dunedin from Australia in 1974 \u201cwith a wife and a little boy and not much else\u201d. <\/p>\n
After working for two local companies supplying restaurant and hotel equipment, he saw an opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started Southern Hospitality in 1989,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere were three staff, and we ended up with 300 and 14 branches around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
It became New Zealand\u2019s largest hospitality equipment supplier, servicing everything from cafes and bakeries to hospitals and hotels. <\/p>\n
The development in Kaikorai Valley is one of 15 currently under way. Photo \/ Ben Tomsett<\/p>\n
\u201cWe opened in Australia too,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThat looked like a good idea at the time, but it cost us $8m to get out in the end…\u201d<\/p>\n
He shrugs at the memory. \u201cThere\u2019s no guarantee in business. You just give it a crack, really. If it doesn\u2019t work, it doesn\u2019t work. As long as you make four out of five good decisions, you\u2019re pretty right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked for advice to young entrepreneurs, his message is direct. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust do it. If you\u2019ve got a reasonable understanding of what you\u2019re doing and a bit of experience, go ahead and do it. You\u2019ll make plenty of mistakes, but it\u2019s not that hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first batch of homes scheduled to be completed are on Riccarton Rd, in East Taieri. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Fewtrell\u2019s company now has 15 active subdivisions across Dunedin, ranging from small two-home lots to a major 68-house development. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis one here\u2019s got six duplexes, that\u2019s 12 homes, and another three standalones on top, so 15 in total,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got enough land for about 170 homes at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal isn\u2019t profit. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll spend $25m doing it,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Fewtrell and project development manager Imogen Stockwell at one of the developments in Dunedin’s Kaikorai Valley. Photo \/ Ben Tomsett<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019ll get those families out of renting. They\u2019re paying off something that\u2019s theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buyers don\u2019t have to apply through the government or win a ballot. <\/p>\n
They simply need to show they\u2019re working, saving, and serious. <\/p>\n
The homes are built by local tradespeople, \u201clocal builders, local architects, local planners,\u201d though he admits, \u201cand unfortunately, local councils as well, which is just an absolute pain in the ass.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council red tape, he says, is the project\u2019s biggest hurdle. <\/p>\n
Still, progress continues. <\/p>\n
\u201cBetween July this year and March next year, we\u2019ve got 43 houses starting construction,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
The former Trustees Executors building on Waters St is being transformed into seven apartments. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already had our first first-home buyers move in. Another eight will be in by Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fewtrell\u2019s philanthropy is personal, not corporate. <\/p>\n
His children, one a roofing contractor in Sydney, the other a small business owner in Dunedin, are financially independent. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t need my money,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I might as well help people who are a bit in need.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s encountered all kinds of buyers: \u201cYoung couples wanting to start a family,\u201d and \u201cBlended families where life\u2019s turned to s**t for them, they\u2019ve got together, starting out again, like first-home buyers really.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reaction from the public, he says, has been heartening.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople like what we\u2019re doing. A lot of them have kids in the same situation, battling to save a deposit. I think probably I\u2019m the world\u2019s worst property developer,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n
Land acquisitions come from all corners of the city. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve bought off everyone, from old doctors with six acres of garden they can\u2019t manage anymore to builders who had dreams of doing what we\u2019re doing but never had the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fewtrell never left the city that gave him his start. <\/p>\n
\u201cDunedin\u2019s been pretty good to me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice, easy city to get around. It\u2019s got an interesting harbour and peninsula. There\u2019s very little trouble here … It\u2019s just a nice place to live,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cI came over here with nothing. Now I get to see families move into their first homes. That\u2019s better than sitting on a pile of money, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
The project is expected to take at least 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost likely longer,\u201d he admits. \u201cI won\u2019t be here by the time it\u2019s finished. But we\u2019ve started, and it\u2019ll roll on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe build homes and we sell them for market value, and then I chip in a hundred grand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[836,3017,674,3237,6788,123849,36023,1333,42,5838,30689,6800,5101,43,6372,6182,1961,61,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-202126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-836","tag-ahead","tag-building","tag-buyers","tag-dunedin","tag-fewtrell","tag-firsthome","tag-get","tag-headlines","tag-help","tag-heralds","tag-homes","tag-millionaire","tag-news","tag-roger","tag-stories","tag-this","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}