Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 29/02) - Housing Minister Kelvin Ng is doing what he can to put people into their own homes in Nunavut.

As recently announced, Ng introduced two new programs to make housing more accessible for territorial residents.

A housing crunch has gripped the territory for the past several years.

The first of the programs is geared towards territorial government employees.

Because of a lack of housing across the territory, the government has had difficulty filling a myriad of positions.

To help bring the government up to its full staff complement, the Nunavut Housing Corporation created a staff condominium program.

The program allows employees to purchase the units from the NHC at cost.

The 181 condominium-style units should be completed in the 10 communities slated to receive them by the fall of 2003.

Sixteen units are almost ready for occupancy in Iqaluit.

"We're hoping it will ease the housing crunch," said Ng.

The units' building costs ranged between $170,000 to $220,000, depending on the community, and will be sold to staff members for the same price.

"They will be sold for the same amount. It's not for making money and it's not for subsidizing. It's a cost program," he said.

Not just government

Ng also introduced a tenant-to-owner program for public housing clients. This allows Nunavummiut residing in social housing to purchase their units.

Local housing authorities in each community will assess which clients are eligible -- likely based on their tenant history.

"It's for people in public housing units, for lower- to middle-income individuals, who may want to own their own homes," explained Ng.

Ng said mortgages would be held with the NHC for the first five years of the client's ownership and that monthly payments would be based on 20 per cent of their gross income.

"We're trying to make it really affordable," he said.

Sounds good

Susan Spring, the manager of the housing authority in Iqaluit, likes the idea of the tenant-to-ownership program because they've had success with similar programs in the past.

But she's curious to see program conditions.

"We have to be careful because it's a seller's market," said Spring.

She said unless residency requirements are included in the conditions, new owners could purchase their homes at a reasonable price and turn around and sell them for the more expensive market rate. The end result is both the client and the housing authority would be left without a unit.

Iqaluit realtor John Matthews also expressed his support for the tenant-to-owner program. He said he expected it to help solve some of the territory's housing woes.

"I would think these would be successful because the terms and conditions will be more gentle than they would be on the market," said Matthews.

"Any program like this is a benefit to the overall housing situation," he said.