The City of Morden is promoting an initiative to help support first-time home buyers in the community.
A provincial grant is allowing the City of Morden and Morden Community Development Corporation to offer a homebuyer assistance program where successful applicants can receive funding equal to a five percent down payment on the purchase of a home and a portion of associated closing costs by way of a five-year earned forgivable loan, to a maximum of $15,500.
The initial response was enough that a second intake has been added, with expressions of interest being accepted until Dec. 6. It shows the level of need in the city, officials suggested last week. “It’s a problem that is increasingly prevalent across Canada, and we’re not immune to it,” said Jason Dyck, economic development officer for the City of Morden. “Housing availability has been extremely tight, so folks who would like to move into homes of their own are finding the availability, and the prices won’t necessarily work for them. So this program aims to remove those barriers. “Addressing not just one aspect but addressing it in multiple ways is something that we think is a robust and sustainable housing strategy,” Dyck said. “This is a way of helping people to get a leg up.”
The Morden Homebuyers Assistance Program involves a comprehensive review process and evaluation criteria with a multi-phase approval process to ensure the funding meets provincial guidelines and is used to support sustainable housing solutions in Morden. Eligibility for the program requires a gross family income that does not exceed $84,600 and that the home purchase price does not exceed $275,000. The program provides support with home ownership education sessions for successful applicants to ensure they have the information needed to have a sustainable and thriving experience in their new home.
Mayor Brandon Burley noted that home ownership is a significant indicator of personal security and that housing affordability was a major theme of the 2022 election and is something that the city is keen to deliver on now. “This homebuyer assistance program is a great step in addressing hurdles affecting many of our hard-working households and will have a substantially positive effect on our community,” he suggested. “Morden’s council is thankful to the board of MCDC and the province of Manitoba for their partnership in creating a program that has the potential of delivering immediate results on housing affordability.”
For more information, visit www.mordeneconomicdevelopment.ca or contact project coordinator Liz Reimer via email at lreimer@mymorden.ca or phone at 204-822-4434 ext 1204.
Dyck noted they see this as fitting into their development of an overall comprehensive housing strategy for the City of Morden. “That is something we will be talking about hopefully within the next couple of months ... that will hopefully provide a bit of a blueprint as to what we can do a bit more strategically and comprehensively going forward.”
By Lorne Stelmach
The Winkler Morden Voice
