More BOP families to achieve home ownership thanks to $1.5m investment
BOP teacher Alex Le Long has bought her first home with help from YouOwn
Trust Horizon and TECT will be investing an additional $1.5m to help more Bay of Plenty families afford to buy their own homes, despite not fitting mainstream mortgage criteria.
A privately-funded co-ownership programme, YouOwn has loaned $17 million to Kiwis nationwide – allowing 187 homes to be purchased. The programme has run in the Bay of Plenty since September 2020. It’s designed to solve the deposit gap (particularly for first home buyers) by taking a small ownership stake in the new property at a low interest rate. After five years homeowners can use their equity to buy out YouOwn’s share, meaning they eventually own their property outright. As money is repaid, it is recycled back into the scheme to allow further homes to be bought.
BayTrust’s initial $2 million impact investment into YouOwn has since helped fund 24 home purchases in the Bay of Plenty. Now Trust Horizon and TECT are committing a further $1.5m to allow the successful initiative to expand in the region.
Ōpōtiki College teacher Alex Le Long is just one example of how life-changing YouOwn’s assistance can be. Alex left Auckland a decade ago in the hopes of one day being able to buy her own home. However, 12 years of KiwiSaver contributions still weren’t enough to make it happen. “The journey hasn’t been easy,” says Alex. “Prior to YouOwn the bank was saying to me ‘no you can’t do this’. But joining with YouOwn I had immediate help.”
Alex Le Long's new home
YouOwn contributed $63,000 to Alex’s existing $67,000 KiwiSaver deposit, giving YouOwn a 10.8% share in the property. With this support, Alex achieved her home ownership dream in May last year – purchasing a modern, warm, and dry home in Ōpōtiki. “Buying this house is my biggest dream come true,” says Alex. “I would not have been able to do this without YouOwn.”
YouOwn Executive Director Nigel Spratt says the inability to save a large enough deposit and/or personal debt are usually the main barriers people face when trying to get a mortgage from a commercial bank.
“YouOwn provides good, hard working Kiwis with an opportunity to get into their dream home or to get onto the housing ladder,” he says. “Many people can afford to service a mortgage but just can’t get past that 20% deposit hurdle with the bank. That’s where YouOwn can help.”
Trust Horizon Chief Executive Derek Caudwell says it typically takes Eastern Bay of Plenty families over 15 years to save for a house deposit – delaying home ownership and putting pressure on the rental market.
“With increases in the cost of living, this continues to get worse. Trust Horizon has chosen to invest in the YouOwn scheme as part of a broader set of investments aiming to improve and support families into affordable housing in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.”
For more details or enquiries about YouOwn and how the co-ownership model works, please visit https://youown.co.nz/