Martinborough Business Association

We all love the Martinborough community and know it is a great place to settle, live and work. .But what happens when you are trying to attract a workforce to come and enjoy all of the benefits we do? Well, there’s an almost insurmountable challenge of finding suitable and affordable accommodation either transitional or permanent.

This is not a new problem, but it has resurfaced again with the lifting of many of the Covid-19 measures, borders opening up, the resultant increase in visitor traffic, and the high season.

With the shortage of a work-ready local labour force some of our members have or have attempted to recruit staff from further afield but then run into accommodation availability and affordability problems.

We know Martinborough has a high number of rentals in the weekend rental market ( Air BnB and the like). Some business owners have taken theirs out of this market and made those available for staff rentals. There is a reluctance by owners to go into the longer-term rental market for many (and valid) reasons.

It’s not an easy problem to solve and requires different solutions. This year we looked at the tiny house option for business owners who may have space on their properties to opt for a tiny home such as the 1 bedroom options Tiny by Taylor has developed and produced. These are good solutions for transitional housing as people and employers look for permanent options.

If you have a non-occupied house and you would be interested in working with a business owner in creating a rental opportunity we can connect you or if you want to explore a tiny home rental head to www.tinybytaylor.co.nz.

Similarly, if you have any ideas that will help business owners please get in touch with us at info@martinboroughnz.com

Allan Hogg – Chair