First-time homebuyers line up for grant
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Nov 13/00) - Half of the money allotted to a grant program for first-time homebuyers in Nunavut is gone just five months after the program's launch.
The Government of Nunavut allocated $630,000 to the NDAP (Nunavut Down payment Assistance Program) to help Nunavummiut buy their own homes with a $15,000 headstart on their mortgages.
Since then, 16 applications have been approved and five are pending.
"The results are what we expected; I'd say the program is successful," said Pam Hine, the president of the Nunavut Housing Corporation.
"The success of the NDAP is directly related to the number of houses for sale in a community."
Hine said because the program was announced in late June, there wasn't time for people to ship materials to the communities if they wanted to build.
That limited their choices to existing houses already for sale.
"Our commitment to build 100 public housing units between all of the communities in Nunavut took priority over the (NDAP)," said Hine.
"We focused on that as our main priority and will be reviewing all of the housing programs this year."
Some $18-million was spent on building new public housing units, leaving the remainder of budgeted money for the NDAP.
In the Kitikmeot community of Kugluktuk, three applications for the six available houses, ranging in price from $125,000 to $320,000, have been approved.
This is encouraging, says the manager of the Kugluktuk Housing Association, because it frees up space on the lengthy waiting list for public housing.
"If people who are living in public housing are in the financial position to buy their own home we encourage them to do so," said Joanne Taptuna.
Both the Nunavut Housing Corporation and the community Housing Associations expect that more people will take advantage of the $15,000 grant before the money runs out.
To qualify for the grant, buyers must:
