Housing corporation launches new homebuilding program
Application period runs until Oct. 18 through Nunavut Housing Corp. website
Nunavut Housing Corp. has announced support for homeownership in Nunavut. (File photo)
Nunavut Housing Corp. has launched its new Nunavut Homeownership Assistance Program, a move aimed at encouraging Nunavummiut interested in home ownership to pursue it.
“By empowering residents to take an active role in building and maintaining their homes, this program aims to increase skills while increasing the number of new homes owned by Nunavummiut,” said Lorne Kusugak, the minister responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corp., in a news release Wednesday.
The program, known as NHAP, will support eligible new homeowners by giving them a 10-year forgivable loan of $250,000 to cover the costs of buying building materials in a package approved by the corporation.
Participants will get Nunavut Housing Corp. “modest home designs,” as described in the program guide, along with project management and supervision when included in the build plan.
The corporation will also offer home ownership education to help applicants understand the “responsibilities and financial obligations of homeowners under the program.”
What the Nunavut Housing Corp., calls a “modernized” NHAP is a new take on the Homeownership Assistance Program the Government of the Northwest Territories used between 1983 and 1992. It gave people a chance to own a home by receiving construction materials from the government and then building their home with their own labour.
When the housing corporation announced the new program in April, it referred to it as HAP 2.0 — a nod to the old program that led to the construction of more than 1,000 homes in less than a decade.
NHAP is designed help the housing corporation meet its goal of building 900 new affordable rental or ownership housing units by 2030 as part of Nunavut 3000, according to the program’s guide.
The Nunavut government and Nunavut Housing Corp. announced the $2.6-billion Nunavut 3000 program in 2022 with a goal of building 3,000 new housing units by 2030, as a response to housing shortages across the territory.
Nunavut Housing Corp. and NCC Development Ltd. are directly responsible for construction of close to half of all the planned houses, including about 1,400 public housing units across Nunavut.
To be eligible for NHAP, applicants have to be 19 years old and have lived in Nunavut for the past year without a home of their own.
They also have to be willing to provide “sweat equity or other labour to complete the build,” according to the guide, and obtain the necessary inspections and permits.
Also, the participants cannot have received previous assistance from the corporation to buy or build a home within the past 10 years and have to be able to get bank financing, according to the program guide.
Applications will be accepted until Oct. 18 and have to be filled out on the Nunavut Housing Corp.’s website, which includes full details on eligibility.
The original Homeownership Assistance Program, or HAP, was in place in the 1980s and 1990s. Residents could build their own home for free with materials provided by the Government of the Northwest Territories, which at the time governed what is now Nunavut.
More than a thousand homes were built over about a decade, many of which still stand today. Each house cost the N.W.T. Housing Corp. roughly $130,000, adjusted for inflation in 2022.
In comparison, the cost of one public housing unit in 2022 was $923,477.
This is great news. The NWT era HAP program was a great success, led with enthusiasm and determination by the late NWT Housing Minister from Baker Lake, Gordon Wray, who I was happy to have worked with on that first HAP program. As this story points out, this is a relatively small investment for the government compared to the high costs and low returns of having the housing corporation build homes for rent. Those HAP houses which were built in the 80s and early 90s are still standing strong and proud all over the north. Not everybody can build and maintain their own homes, but there are people who are living in social housing who can and will, and when they move into their own homes they will make room for those in need. And families who build their own homes with their own ‘sweat equity’ will also take good care of those homes, which they can then pass on to the next generation. HAP homes will also support local trades in our communities. This program should be a big help in reaching one of Nunavut 3000’s goals of increasing homeownership in Nunavut.
Any support from NHC when something breaks down? Can the Housing Office help when a furnace need replacing or when heat trace craps out? since there’s no local contractors in most hamlet? Lot of people move out their homes and into public housing cause they don’t know how to fix something that broke or it’s too pricy to fly in a technician from south
So you build a home which becomes a very valuable asset but then won’t spend relatively few dollars, that is in relation to the over all value of the home, to maintain it. That I guess is the same as buying a 70k vehicle then not checking or changing the oil. Isn’t that just a little short sighted. People just don’t think things through.
All Gn workers should have to do this HAP after a few years in a Gn unit. Some Gn workers are over 20 years in a Gn unit
How long is wait time for a reply?? 🤔 I did apply haven’t heard anything back
Sorry to burst your bubble.
This program is not for Iqaluit.
This program requires that you build your own house.
This program requires that you follow all local bylaws and building codes.
Iqaluit bylaw does not permit construction, except by red seal tradesmen.
Therefore, this program is not for Iqaluit, except the few tradesmen who live in Iqaluit, most of whom already own their own homes.
And who, outside of Iqaluit, can afford home ownership, even this way?
Anyone can build thier own home anywhere as long as they build to code. Get you facts straight
The NHC’s requirements are more laxed compared to those of the bank. While NHC doesn’t require those conditions, the bank’s Construction Mortgage requires a red seal to lead and complete the majority of the work. The bank will also conduct inspections at various stages before releasing funds from the mortgage.
With little to no land in Iqaluit, this program isn’t viable in Iqaluit unfortunately.
The bank does not require red seal Carpenter, the bank does not do code compliance I sections. They do progress I sections to verify the material and assembly are progressing in relation to the bridge financing provided. Don’t you just love people spouting off about things that they have absolutely no knowledge.
Not quite true. Your bank or mortgage lender will require insurance. Insurance will require all codes be followed and audited or your insurance is void. An uninsurable home built by a red seal or hand built with sweat equity will not be mortgaged.
Code compliance is the thing. No matter who does the work. Many look at building inspectors as overbearing and no doubt some may be however they provide a valuable service trying to ensure the new build meets standards and continues to comply for future owners.
Section 18.3 b) of Iqaluit Bylaw 710 requires the employment of a Journeyman or a supervised Apprentice on construction projects.
Now the Housing Minister and the Environment Minister can get out of public housing and get their own house. Oh yah if NHC can roll out the program before the election.
Do full time workers or GN employees get special leave to take time off work to build? And is that before or after they work and train to know how to build and all the secondary skills necessary? What a slap in the face to hard working people who can’t afford to take time off to build their own home or who can’t afford the almost $1 million run down shacks or shoddy condos built with every corner cut.
Lots , and I do mean lots of people find the time to build a home while working. There is 168 hours in a week, you probably work 37.5 hours working for GN. Your trying to tell me you don’t have the time. Many of us do and did it. Such it up give a little more than the usual 25% effort.
Build your home and you will understand and perhaps appreciate what it takes. To calculate material required, obtain financing and insurance and permits. Physical challenges like heavy lifting long hours, cold, wind, rain, dealing with subtrades, coordinating and getting final approvals. But you do all that when you finally sit down, look around you, see what you have done. No greater feeling. Try it.