While essential workers are needed in every suburb and town, their wages often don’t meet the costs of housing near to where they work.
As housing prices in Australia continue to rise exponentially, many are being shut out of the market, while others must commute long distances to work. In this environment, essential workers, including teachers, nurses, police officers and firefighters, are hit the hardest.
To tackle these challenges facing essential workers, the team behind start-up social enterprise HOPE Housing has partnered with Police Bank on the Essential Workers Home Loan Project. The customer owned bank is committed to supporting frontline workers, and recently, settled their first home purchase as part of this partnership. It’s the first of many that will help to turn the dream of owning a home into a reality for essential workers.
The HOPE model will co-invest as a passive shared equity partner, buying 50% of a home, with a frontline worker purchasing the other 50% through a mortgage from Police Bank. The frontline worker will be under no obligation to buy out HOPE, but should they sell the property, the fund receives a proportional share of the proceeds.
Founder and Director of HOPE Housing, Tim Sims recalls, “It made a deep impression on me that there were people who were serving the community selflessly, where lives mattered, service levels mattered, and yet their personal life circumstances made that not straightforward.”
“Obviously in more recent times in Australia, we’ve seen the incredible service of various frontline workers. They’re not the highest paid professions,” he adds, “but they are absolutely critical to the functioning of our community.”