Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to provide the House with a summary of the success of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's Minimum Down Payment Assistance Pilot Program or as it is more commonly known MDAPP.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, this pilot program gave people grants towards the down payment of a home. Grants of $10,000 were provided to those living below the treeline and $15,000 grants were provided above the treeline.
As this was a pilot program Cabinet directed that an evaluation be conducted once MDAPP was completed. This was done because MDAPP was the first time a program aimed at stimulating the NWT's economy through housing sales was attempted. According to this review, the following results were achieved:
- almost 75 percent of the families surveyed indicated that they would not have been able to buy their home without the MDAPP grant
- 555 families, in 16 NWT communities became homeowners through MDAPP
- close to $5.6 million was spent under MDAPP which stimulated almost $70 million in real estate transactions
- families who received MDAPP report they expect to spend over $3 million for renovations and improvements to their new homes in the next year
- 22 percent or 118 families assisted through MDAPP moved to the NWT in the last two years
- a further 59 families assisted by MDAPP moved from either another community in the NWT or a Nunavut community in the last two years, many of those surveyed said they had moved because of jobs
- during the pilot program there was no increase in the number of rental units available on the market. It is believed that this was due to a large number of families who sold their homes moved into rental accommodation.
Mr. Speaker, this evaluation shows that the pilot program was successful in meeting its stated objectives, which were:
- stimulate the sales of existing homes on the market which were having a detrimental effect on the demand for new home construction;
- encourage workers and their families from the south to become permanent residents of the NWT;
- encourage workers to move between communities to take advantage of job opportunities, and
- to encourage economic spin-offs through renovations, improvements and home purchases.
Mr. Speaker, while the evaluation met its stated objectives, it is apparent that continuing it may have negative affects on the private rental market and yield diminishing results as the housing market absorbs the assistance through price increases. For this reason there are no plans by the Housing Corporation to reintroduce this program.
Copies of the entire MDAPP evaluation will be presented to Cabinet and will be placed on the Housing Corporations's web page in the near future for public access. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause