In the middle of a housing crisis, where women are some of the most impacted, how do we get women into their own homes?
This is one of the core missions of Women’s Village Collective (WVC) , the non-profit organisation, which came together as a grassroots movement in 2020 to address the homelessness and housing stress so many were facing in our community.
With the help of Flood Support funding from The NSW Government, the Women’s Village Collective are targeting financial preparedness, equipping people with what is needed to access housing opportunities.
Not financially ready to access opportunities
Those seeking housing need to be financially ready to access opportunities. Many are not. While some are ready but struggling to find the gap in the market, others need financial preparedness to support them towards future housing options.
To get there you need to know what support is available, what you need to do to meet funding criteria and what you need to do to be considered for a bank loan.
The Housing Solutions Workshop is happening over two dates with the first one featuring speakers from the Bendigo Bank addressing how people access the appropriate Government Home Buyer schemes, like the NSW Shared Equity Home Buyer, targeted directly to single parents, single people over 50, key workers or first time home buyers. This allows eligible first time regional home buyers to enter the housing market with as little as a 5 per cent deposit. The Family Home Guarantee provides eligible single parents with dependents the opportunity to build a new home or purchase an existing home with a deposit of 2 per cent, subject to the individual’s ability to service a home loan.
Sharing insights
Also speaking is a mortgage broker with 25 years experience sharing their insights on how to get market ready to buy a home.
Other speakers include Scott Wharton from Green Vision, who is the developer for Vue Eco Village in Goonellabah, speaking about tackling housing affordability as a key building outcome.
Dr Dionne Payne, with a background in finance and delivering affordable housing will speak on how charitable organisations can support traditional housing models and help more people access property.
Sama Balson the WVC founder will share her findings on solutions available through three years of gathering both expert advice on housing models and working with the community on what needs to change to close the gaps of those with homes and those without.
Events open to everyone
These events are open to everyone who wants to learn more about housing solutions.
The first event in the series will be at: Marvell Hall in Byron Bay, this Wednesday, April 5, from 10am – 2pm with on site childcare available. Lunch is also available, bookings are essential.
The following event on May 2 at Byron Community Theatre will include speakers from the Byron Shire Council Planning Department and town planners to help understand the mechanics of different housing structures.
These workshops will be followed up with ongoing community development and support from the WVC.
To register and find out more go to womensvillagecollective.
This is not an issue that should be dealt with by expressing concern only for women.
It should be dealt with by building affordable (modest) social housing for ALL people that cannot afford home ownership.
It is a pity that a billion dollars or so is going into paying half a million dollars or so to people who took the risk of living in a floodplain. This public money should be spent on public housing – on principle, and because it could create lots more homes that way. The buyback is immoral, and offensive to the homeless
Every one needs access to housing – male or female, young or old, so help should be provided based on all peoples’ assessed needs. Speaking of need, there were plenty of homeless people, and people struggling for years to rent or buy, before last year’s devastating floods. Why should they all go to the back of the queue for help? Why are only those who owned a house being helped? Are non-homeowners not worthy of our help because they are poor?
The competition for land ownership is not a ‘level playing field’ (unlike the flood plains that people buy land on because it is cheaper) because with increasing population and land being fixed in supply, it is more difficult for each generation to purchase. Over the last few decades, society has allowed the dismantling of supports like full time jobs and job security. This means a proportion of the population have difficulty accessing housing credit the way our parents did.
Housing is direly needed to provide the ‘safety net’ we once had. It is public money that is being used so the housing should belong to the public, rather than overcompensating individuals who purchased in an area that is guaranteed to flood. With any given amount of money, many more people could be provided with a basic dwelling if the government provided well designed public housing, than if individuals are paid for their highly risky private investments.
Pods on public land with water tank and solar. Better than sleeping rough.