Week highlights housing options
This week is housing week for the. Housing Corporation. The aim is to draw attention to the services offered by the Housing Corporation and the options available for home buyers. Home ownership is, surprisingly, still affordable and within the means of most young couples, in spite of rising property prices, says Mr Brian Atkins, the loans manager for the Housing Corporation. “The problems people face when they want to buy a home are probably no greater than they were 15 years ago. “Saving the deposit is no more of a problem now than it was then,” he says.
The Government recognised the difficulties people had in saving for a deposit and introduced Homestart loans in 1987 to bridge the deposit gap. Homestart loans of $9OOO are available to low and middle-income earners whether they are borrowing home finance from the corporation or from other lending institutions. During the first five years no repayments have to be made, but the interest rate at three per cent is capitalised. Since October, 1987, the Housing Corporation has helped 3900 families in Canterbury to buy their first homes. Housing Corporation assistance is available for
people with serious housing needs, but an interesting new development has been to encourage tenants, whose circumstances have changed since they were allocated their houses, to buy their own homes. This frees rental accommodation for other needy people and gives the former tenants the benefits of home ownership. Two hundred and fifty rental tenants have been helped into their own homes during the last 12 months. Many former tenants have been able to afford market rates. Some have financed their homes using a joint package between the Housing Cor-
poration and the United Building Society. Figures show that the costs of renting a house and taking out a new mortgage may be comparable. A typical -three bedroom home in Woolston or Linwood would cost about $l5O a week to rent. This amount could service a loan for $50,000.
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Press, 10 July 1989, Page 17
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332Week highlights housing options Press, 10 July 1989, Page 17
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