The City of Hamilton announced late last year that it would be working with Kiwanis Homes and the Hamilton Community Foundation on the launch of a $3 million mortgage pool pilot program. The pilot, run by Kiwanis, will be available to select tenants of theirs to help them purchase the homes that they are renting. Photo Credit: Kiwanis Homes.
The City of Hamilton announced late last year that it would be working with Kiwanis Homes and the Hamilton Community Foundation on the launch of a $3 million mortgage pool pilot program.
The pilot, run by Kiwanis, will be available to select tenants of theirs to help them purchase the homes that they are renting.
Kiwanis announced in 2016 that they plan to sell most of their single-detached homes over the next 10 years to help fund their goal of developing 1,000 new rental units.
A “shared appreciation mortgage pool” of $3 million will assist existing tenants with qualifying for a mortgage.
This pilot will cover up to 40 per cent of the down payment on the homes.
Those who are a part of the initiative will then eventually have to pay the money back into the pool.
The success of the program will also be evaluated with the hopes of expanding the idea to the general population, serving those with low income.
A City of Hamilton report on the plan notes that “increasing house prices have made it difficult to award funding as the required down payment and incomes to support payments are still too high.”
It continues that the program “will enable social housing tenants to purchase a home, improve their financial independence over the long term, and remain in their neighbourhood in spite of rapidly increasing home prices and rents.”
“It also supports Kiwanis in their efforts to raise capital to develop new affordable housing.”
The city, Kiwanis, and the Hamilton Community Foundation contributed $1 million each.
The program was launched last year.
Hamilton Community Foundation is a group that “pools the charitable gifts of donors to create endowment funds and uses the investment income to make grants,” according to their website.
The group has operated for over 60 years.
Kiwanis Homes was incorporated in 1982 “with the mandate of providing modest affordable housing” in Hamilton.
They operate social housing including rent-geared-to-income units.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
