334 families assisted in government’s 2020-2021 First Home Grant Assistance Programme

334 families have been assisted in the government’s First Home Grant Assistance Programme in the 2020-2021 financial year.

Minister for Housing and Community Development, Premila Kumar says a total of 182 families received the grant to construct their first home, 112 families received the grant to purchase their first homes, and 40 families received the grant to purchase their first land.

Kumar says the government increased the grant amount for construction in this financial year from $15,000 to $30,000 for families with a combined annual income of $50,000.

She says this is to assist a family’s deposit to borrow funds to build their dream home and also to revive the construction sector, which has benefited many Fijians.

Kumar adds the funding allocated for the First Home Grant Assistance Programme in this financial year has been paid out, but only the First Land Programme is still open.

She further says pending applications will be considered in the next financial year and they have also informed financial institutions about applicants who have missed out.

Kumar says they will be doing regular follow ups with the respective financial institutions to ensure that grant recipients are progressing with the construction of their first homes as per schedule.

She says financial institutions will return the grant money to the Ministry if a recipient postpones the construction of their home or decides to shelve the project, and they will use such refunds to assist those in the waiting list.

The Ministry has assisted a total of 2,978 Fijians with a total payout in excess of $28.6 million since the inception of the programme in 2014, and the total pay-out for this financial year is in excess of $5 million.