Charity makes ownership dream a reality

Sep 20 2007 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

A PIONEERING £1.9m charity project, in one of Liverpool’s most deprived areas, is making the dream of home ownership come true.

Liverpool Habitat for Humanity (LHFH) is building 32 three-bedroom homes on just over two acres of land donated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Kingsley Road, Toxteth.

Drummers and singers gathered at the site last night to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of the project, the first in the North West and the UK’s largest.

The scheme aims to provide affordable housing for needy families by substituting volunteer work – known as a “sweat equity” – for a costly cash deposit.

Under the plan, prospective homeowners are given the opportunity to invest 500 hours in the construction of their new home, which counts as a £10,000 down-payment on the property.

They may obtain a mortgage of as little as £40,000 – up to two- thirds of the purchase price – while paying no rent on the remaining equity for five years.

The homebuyers work closely with volunteers under the supervision of a trained site manager and other workers.

One of those who took advantage of the scheme was Charanjeet Birdie, 29, who will be the first to take possession, along with her son, Tom, in October.

She said: “There’s no way I could have afforded the costs associated with buying a property, so this has helped me a lot, but the physical work involved means that it’s not for the faint-hearted.

“It’s been a very long journey to get to this stage. The thing I’ve enjoyed most is that this house is already full of so much love.”

Rev Dr Shannon Ledbetter, chair of LHFH, said she hoped the scheme would be the first in a series of developments on Merseyside. She was at the unveiling of Phase 1, which includes the site’s first three finished homes, last night.

She said: “We have had to overcome a series of challenges, but the main one was to introduce a new concept of building into the community, and educating people to volunteer in this way.

“While Habitat for Humanity is an international charity which builds in many countries, it is relatively unknown in England.

“It’s fantastic for us to have completed our first three homes and there are so many people who we want to thank for helping us to reach this first milestone.”

The project has received funding from the Merseyside housing market renewal initiative, New Heartlands.

Habitat for Humanity International has built 225,000 homes in 92 countries.

OPINION: PAGE 10

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