Premila Kumar

The Ministry of Housing has assisted 334 applicants through the First Home and First Land Grant Programs during the 2020-2021 financial year.

The total pay-out is in excess of $5 million.

The first home ownership initiative was introduced in 2014 with an aim to provide affordable and quality housing for Fijians with low and middle income category.

Minister Premila Kumar says since the inception of the First Home Ownership programme in 2014, the Ministry has assisted a total of 2,978 Fijian households with a total pay-out in excess of $28.6 million.

She adds a total of 222 households in the income category of $50,000 and below have received assistance in construction or purchase of their first home under this program.

The Minister also said that the assistance provided under this program helped these applicants to secure loans from the financial institutions in excess of $42 million, creating opportunities for economic activities of such magnitude.

She adds they have written to all financial institutions and as we did in the previous years, any applicant who has missed out will be considered in the new financial year.