“Low income families deserve access to affordable housing. We believe in the empowerment that flows from home ownership, and the improved long-term outcomes it generates in the areas of education, employment, health and lifestyle for parents and children. This loan will help us increase the pace of construction, and to build more homes.”
Families partner with Habitat for Humanity in the construction of their home. Each partner family receives an interest free, 20-year loan based on 95 percent of the market value of the completed home.
Partner families contribute 500 hours of their own time in the planning and construction phases. This is called ‘sweat equity’ and is recognised in the 5 percent discount on market value. As part of Habitat for Humanity’s pay it forward model, partner family loan repayments go towards building new homes for other families in the program.
Habitat for Humanity, Victoria received the first loan distributed from the Affordable Housing Loan Fund. The Affordable Housing Loan Fund was established in November 2015 by Sefa and the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation (LMCF) to address the homelessness and affordable housing crisis in Victoria.
Sefa applied an innovative approach to meet Habitat’s need for flexibility. Rather than a short-term solution that relied on inflexible mortgages as security, Sefa’s funding model followed the growth of Habitat for Humanity. The loan provides Habitat a pathway to financial sustainability and makes them less reliant on grants to fulfil their mission.
The loan assisted with the construction of 13 new homes for low-income families in Greater Melbourne. Homes were built in Yea, Geelong and Mornington Peninsula. Construction costs were less than that of similar houses, thanks to 500 hours of sweat equity (labour provided by future owners) and other volunteer labour and donations provided by corporate partners.
