Oct. 20, 2024
A Hamilton non-profit is opening an affordable home ownership pilot to the general public after an internal test run it launched last year.
The goal is to help low-to-middle-income renters break into the market by drawing on a $3-million mortgage pool to soften the hurdles to ownership.
So far, Kiwanis Homes has closed four home sales to former renters through the initiative but expects to sell 16 to 20 overall, executive director Brian Sibley says.
“People have been able to change their economic situation to the point where they can actually move into home ownership. It’s a huge success story.”
But now Kiwanis wants to give the wider public a crack, which opens the pool to thousands of potential applicants.
“We knew that as soon as we went public on this, the demand would go through the roof,” Sibley said.
Kiwanis, which has provided affordable homes in Hamilton and area since 1982, operates more than 1,100 units.
The affordable home ownership pilot is a partnership with the City of Hamilton, Hamilton Community Foundation, Home Ownership Alternatives and FirstOntario Credit Union.
Eligible applicants must be able to provide a down payment of five per cent and qualify for a mortgage that covers no less than 55 per cent of the home’s appraised value.
Kiwanis, the city and community foundation have contributed $1 million apiece to the pilot’s mortgage pool.
The partners cover 40 per cent of down payments and help participants secure their first mortgage, but they don’t require repayment for 25 years.
When the owners pay off mortgages, they can sell their homes or renegotiate. The appreciation is reinvested into affordable-housing development.
Kiwanis, for instance, expects to soon break ground on a 126-unit apartment building at 1540 Upper Wentworth St. The plan involves the demolition of 15 of 85 existing townhouses in order to make way for the denser complex at Rymal and Stone Church roads.
To be eligible for the ownership pilot, gross household income must not exceed $113,600 per year, a municipal requirement that represents Hamilton’s 60th income percentile.
That’s the maximum, but the pilot targets the lower-to-middle income bracket, said Sibley, citing a couple earning $25 an hour as an example.
One recent buyer was a child of a single parent who grew up in a Kiwanis home but now has a job and qualified for ownership under the pilot.
“That’s an amazing transformation,” Sibley said.
The pilot also caps appraised value at $500,000, he said, noting sales so far have been in the $450,000 range.
Mayor Andrea Horwath praised the rollout of the pilot amid the housing affordability crisis.
“By reducing the barriers of affordability, this program has the potential of giving Hamiltonians back their dream of home ownership and making that dream a reality while contributing to a more healthy and affordable housing market overall,” she said in a news release.
The Hamilton Community Foundation is “thrilled” to be part of the pilot, which “benefits families by helping them build equity, preserving neighbourhoods and ultimately building Hamilton’s affordable housing stock,” CEO Rudi Wallace said.
Once the stock of available homes are sold, the partners will assess the pilot and decide what’s next, Sibley said.
“The limitation will be the houses that are available for sale and the amount of money that we have to invest.”
Those interested in the program are asked to contact Sibley via home.ownership@kiwanishomes.ca.