The Fijian Government has assisted over 3400 Fijian households since the inception of the first home grant initia­tive in 2014.

Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Housing Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum revealed this in Parliament on Friday.

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the initiative start­ed in 2014 with a $10,000 assistance to Fijians with an annual household income of $50,000 below who were constructing their first home.

He said in 2018, this was further expanded by increasing the first home grant to $15,000 and introducing the first land purchase grant of $10,000 for those Fijians purchasing their first residential land.

This he said was a grant.

“Since its inception in 2014, the first home ownership assisted over 3400 Fijian house­holds with a total of $36 million,” Mr Sayed- Khaiyum said.

“In the 2020-2021 financial year we made a bold decision to increase the value of the grant to up to $30,000.

“This of course was done with the intention to help people own their own homes quickly and encourage them because we see the rate of home ownership in Fiji is quite low com­paratively.”

He further revealed that in the 2020-2021 fi­nancial year, a total of 433 Fijian households benefited from the first home grant, with a to­tal government investment of $7.5million.

“In the 2021-2022 national budget a total of $4million was allocated and as of date the to­tal allocation has been paid out. The demand was so high.”

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