The Minister for Housing, Premila Kumar says the funding allocated to First Home Assistance Program for the current financial year has been fully utilized however, they have received further 152 applications and this will require just over $3 million to service these applications.
Kumar highlighted this in parliament while responding to a question by Sanjay Kirpal on the economic impact on the initiative.
She says these additional applicants have their loans already approved by financial institutions to a sum of $20 million.
The Minister says given the overall positive impact of this program on the Fijian economy, the Minister for Economy will be redirecting additional funds to support these families within this financial year.
She says 334 families have been assisted under this program in this financial year so far where 184 families received a grant to construct their first homes, 110 families received grants to purchase their first homes and 40 families received grants to purchase their first land.
Kumar say over $5 million has been paid out.
She has also highlighted that the assistance provided under this program helped Fijians to borrow from financial institutions in access of $42 million.
The Minister says the borrowing definitely creates opportunities for financial activities as it simply means more employment in the construction sector and the related supply chain such as building materials and this in turn circulates money in the economy
She adds that 2,978 Fijian families have been assisted since the inception of the First Home Ownership Program in 2014 where more than $28.6 million has been paid.
The Minister adds that as highlighted by Minister for Economy during the Virtual Budget Consultation, the program is going to continue in the next financial year.
People who earn $50,000 or less and are building their first home are eligible for a grant of $30,000. They will get $15,000 if they buy their first home.
People earning above $50,000 annually can be granted $20,000 to build their first home or $5,000 to buy their first home.
Meanwhile SODELPA MP, Lynda Tabuya says the Minister should clarify if people in the villages can get a loan or not as they hold communal land titles because the Attorney General had said last year that these villagers can get a loan through their Mataqali but Kumar is saying something else now.
Kumar says this investment is made using tax payers money and they have to be sure that the person owns the land and the bank is willing to give the loan when the application comes to them
She says the applicants name must be on the title which is the criteria for this particular programme.
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