A hand up to homeownership

Kendra (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is looking forward to a future as a homeowner, after receiving the keys to a three-bedroom home in Tūrangi through Habitat’s Progressive Home Ownership programme.

The solo mum of two, who holds a Bachelor of Law and Tikanga Māori, aspired to purchase a home for her whānau – but, despite having a good job, she found the prospect of buying a home on one income was low.

Habitat’s rent-to-own programme provides affordable rent and security of tenure as whānau work towards purchasing their home within 10 years. Rent payments help form a deposit towards a mortgage, and the purchase price is agreed upon before the family moves in.

At a special dedication ceremony with Kendra’s whānau in May, Habitat Central Region Chief Executive Nic Greene welcomed Kendra to her new home.

“This is one of our programmes we’re really proud of – helping people who are excluded from the housing market to step into home ownership,” Nic said.

“We’ve been running this programme for 30 years, and Kendra is joining the company of over 500 families who have achieved homeownership through Habitat. We’re looking forward to a long partnership, working together to achieve your home ownership goals.”

Kendra thanked Habitat for the opportunity, acknowledging it’s a big commitment but she’s looking forward to seeing what the future brings. She’s set her sights on purchasing the home within seven years.

As part of the partnership with Habitat, future homeowners commit to completing sweat equity hours, which is made up of education hours, community work, or other work in support of Habitat.

With her new home a pre-existing house, Kendra has already been hard at work contributing to the partnership, carrying out family working bees and gardening work to prepare the home for moving in.

This Progressive Home Ownership opportunity was made possible thanks to Bay Trust, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Progressive Home Ownership Fund, and a generous financial donation dedicated to supporting a Tūrangi whānau into homeownership.