From tenant to home owner

June 25, 2018

Foundation Housing provides affordable housing for people in need, for as long as they need it. And for some people this long term affordable accommodation helps them to reach a position where home ownership becomes a possibility. There are a number of options available for tenants to help them own their own home such as the West Australian Government’s  Keystart program which sees finance offered to eligible individuals that can be used to buy an established home or block of land and construction contract.

Nathan was a Foundation Housing tenant for nine years but has recently moved into his own home in Banksia Grove with his wife Myra through the Keystart program. “I really didn’t believe I could afford to get into my home, so being here at the moment is quite amazing,” he said. “It’s, I guess, an Aussie dream that people try to work towards. It’s quite amazing to be here at the moment; I’m still pinching myself!”

The couple’s housing coordinator Steph encouraged them to apply for a Keystart loan and was happy to provide a reference confirming their good rental history for their Keystart broker.

Steph says other housing coordinators have also had tenants that have followed a similar path to Nathan and his wife by buying their own home using the Keystart program, which she’s happy to see. She says that tenants can eventually move out of a property if they remain financially stable and work towards whatever goal they want to achieve including home ownership.  “It’s a matter of people working out where they want to go and then being able to successfully manage their goals,” she said. “Our aim has always been to support and sustain tenancies, but we also want to be able to support people to get their own property or go out successfully to the private rental market, if that’s what they want to do.”

Nathan says Steph and the rest of the staff he dealt with at Foundation Housing were very excited for him when he let them know he would be handing back his keys for the property to move into his own home. He says the experience as a tenant was, overall, a positive one. “I’d really like to say thank you to Foundation Housing,” he said. “Whenever I contacted them they returned pretty much every call with everything. So through those nine years I’ve been with them I’d like to just say thank you. It was good and it made our time easier and comfortable being in that house as well.”

Click here for more information about the Keystart program.

For tenants thinking about owning their home, Nathan says if you keep at it, you can achieve your dream of one day owning your own property. “All I can say is just be patient,” he said. “If you’re going to work towards something it will definitely happen. Just be patient with it and enjoy the ride of working towards owning your own home.”