Affordable homes to help older South Australian women enter property market
Single women over 50 are the fastest-growing group of Australians at risk of homelessness – a new housing project aims to help with that problem.
- Latest count shows 226 homeless in Adelaide each night
- Cost of emergency hotel rooms for homeless soars
Affordable homes will be built for older, single women in Adelaide’s western suburbs to provide more housing for the fastest-growing group of Australians at risk of homelessness.
The $6.8 million State Government Assist program will fund nine homes for single women aged over 50 on low or moderate incomes.
The one or two-bedroom homes, in suburbs including Findon, Kidman Park and Woodville West, will be built on plots of land from 160 sq m to 211 sqm, with a maximum price of $407,100.
However, eligible buyers will only have to pay up to 51 per cent of the purchase price through a shared equity arrangement.
Census data shows the number of Australian women aged 55 or older without a place to live grew by a third between 2011 and 2016.
In 2017-18, more than 13,800 older women across Australia sought help from homeless services – up 63 per cent over five years.
Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink said the Assist program would help “this cohort of women get their foot in the door of homeownership”.
The nine properties will be sold to eligible buyers on a “first-come, first-served basis”, said Ms Lensink.
*****
50c a day for six months: The Advertiser & Sunday Mail latest digital subscription offer
*****
Any of the properties not sold in 30 days will be made available to anyone eligible under the State Government’s broader Affordable Homes Program.
Applicants for that program must earn no more than $85,000 a year, or $110,000 for couples or families, and must not already own a home.
Ms Lensink said the Government intended to release more properties through the Assist program in future.