A family of four who lived in a single bedroom for almost three years say they can finally breathe again after being handed the keys to a brand new home.
After becoming caught in Rotorua’s housing crisis, Tuterangiwhiu and Carmen Grant-Cairns were grateful for a friend’s offer of a bedroom, which the couple shared with their two young daughters for all of that time.
Yesterday, the family were given the keys to a newly built three-bedroom home at Sanctuary Point in Tauranga, as part of Habitat for Humanity’s rent-to-buy Progressive Home Ownership system.
Through tears, Carmen explained the sensation of having the weight of uncertainty finally lifted from her shoulders.
“I think of the years of being in flight-or-fight mode and just not knowing where we were going to be,” she said.
“I can breathe. My babies are going to be okay.”
Carmen, Tuterangiwhiu and daughters Ivy, 6, and Alivya, 5, lived, worked and studied in that single bedroom for almost three years - longer than any of them had prepared for.
A friend offered them a bedroom. It was just a single room for four people in a house with others, but it was a lifeline.
“You just had to make it work,” Carmen said.
“We are grateful for the place we had been. We were living with a very good friend we had. Without hesitation, she gave us a place to stay.
“We literally had nowhere else to go.”
After nearly three years, circumstances at the Rotorua home changed and the family needed to move on.
Carmen and Tuterangiwhiu both said the single bedroom was not where they wanted their children to continue growing up.
“We needed to make sure our babies were okay. We knew we had to find somewhere else to be,” Carmen said.
“Ivy is small and already she was trying to make her own space. We were also running our business and our studies from that room.”
Carmen said that over the years, the family applied for many rentals but were always turned away.
“The reality is it’s tough out there just to get a safe, warm home,” she said.
“We got turned away a lot. It didn’t matter that we had enough income. It didn’t matter that we were suitable.”
They attempted to get emergency housing but she claimed they were told to keep looking for rentals.
“I would never choose emergency housing for my family but we had literally nowhere else to go.”
Carmen said they even tried a campervan park but questioned, “is this what we really want for our children?”
Then Carmen heard about progressive homeownership. She researched it and discovered the Habitat for Humanity programme that effectively offered a rent-to-buy arrangement. She applied.
“We just did our best. When I heard about this progressive homeownership, I checked it out. I thought ‘there’s someone who wants to help us?’”
Now, about 12 months later, Carmen and her family have finally been able to make their homeownership dream a reality.
At a dedication ceremony at their new family home yesterday, representatives from Habitat for Humanity and Venture Developments formally welcomed the family in and celebrated their achievement.
Carmen said the day was more than the ending of what had been an incredibly hard journey. It was the beginning of a new era.
“Our families never had home ownership,” she said.
“I said to my husband, enough is enough, we are not going down the same path. We are going to do things a lot more differently for our children.”
Tuterangiwhiu works as a teacher at Toi Ohomai. He had been based at the polytechnic’s Waiariki campus but has been able to move to its Tauranga campus, which happens to be virtually next door to his new home.
“We just thought, it’s obviously meant to be for us,” Carmen said.
“It’s part of the journey.
“It’s fallen into place.”
Tuterangiwhiu said he felt terrible for their children that they weren’t able to find anywhere other than their friend’s bedroom for so long.
“It wasn’t the best space for them to grow.”
To finally see the fruition of their efforts to find a home was incredibly special, he said.
While Tuterangiwhiu, Carmen and young Ivy began to unpack their boxes yesterday, youngest daughter Alivya was enjoying a “celebration” day at her Rotorua kohanga reo.
Habitat for Humanity tenancy manager Dave White told the family he was proud the organisation was able to offer them this opportunity, and escape from a single bedroom.
“It was either that or emergency housing, and no one wants that for their children. But you clung to the dream and hoped for better,” he said.
“Life can be tough. Your resilience to date with all the challenges of sharing a room, lack of privacy, and security, we acknowledge.
“This is your sanctuary now, as Sanctuary Point.”
The Government’s $400 million Progressive Home Ownership Fund offers providers such as Habitat for Humanity funding to buy homes that are then used in rent-to-buy, shared equity, or leasehold arrangements.
Through this, a home’s eventual purchase price is agreed at the time a family move in, when they first sign an agreement with Habitat. This is based on the home valuation at that time.
The first five years are a rental period, after which - providing all conditions have been met such as rent paid - the family moves on to a Long-term Sale and Purchase Agreement, effectively becoming homeowners in occupation.
At some point, usually within 10 years, the family will secure a mortgage to purchase the home outright from Habitat for Humanity.
Rent paid to date, less Habitat for Humanity’s expenses, will be credited to form part of the deposit. Existing equity will also be leveraged, as the home will most probably have increased in value. KiwiSaver and other savings can also be used.
At this point, the families become independent homeowners.
The programme is aimed at helping lower- to medium-income households unlikely to be able to buy a home without a reasonable level of financial and non-financial support; first-home buyers who can service a mortgage but don’t have a sufficient deposit; and households who have median or above-median incomes but don’t earn enough to service a low-deposit home loan at current house prices.
Habitat for Humanity is accepting expressions of interest from families for an upcoming build at West Dune, Pāpāmoa. Visit the organisation’s website for more information.