Housing Minister Phil Heatley announced on Wednesday that some state housing tenants will be able to buy the houses they live in from mid-September. Heatley said that the homes would be sold at "market prices" determined by independent valuers. Financial assistance will be available to tenants through the government's Welcome Home Loan Scheme. "This policy will see modest uptake, in line with the current housing market. However, for those families who take up the offer it is a significant tool to help them on to the home ownership ladder," Heatley said. "In the medium term I expect hundreds rather than thousands of tenants to buy their state house. However, it is very important that there is a visible pathway into and out of state housing, and on to home ownership as people's circumstances improve," he said. "All the money Housing New Zealand earns from the sale of a home to a tenant will be reinvested back into a replacement state house." Your views and insights? We welcome comments and any further insights on this article and its source documents in the comments field below. Or if you want to remain under the radar please email bernard.hickey@interest.co.nz and alex.tarrant@interest.co.nz and we'll be in touch. We practice a form of collaborative journalism that aims to include the insights and expertise of our readers to improve our articles. That includes clearly identifying any errors and correcting them. We also update articles with relevant new information and commentary and will label our articles Update 2 etc. We know we don't know everything and we know we're not always right. We appreciate your help in constantly improving and deepening the knowledge and debate on interest.co.nz.
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