A home of their own, years ahead of schedule

Ellie Macrostie looks down to her three-year-old and asks: “What colour are we going to paint your room?”

“Pink,” the toddler replies without looking up from where she is busily playing in the driveway with a bucket and spade.

It’s not an exchange that would have been possible before Ellie had a loan approved under the Tasmanian Government’s shared equity program, MyHome.

Now, here they are, in front of the slab and frame of a new, three-bedroom home, which is springing up from a block at Longford in Tasmania’s beautiful North.

Launched in July 2022, MyHome recently passed the milestone of helping 1000 Tasmanians realise the dream of home ownership.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do this on a single income,” Ellie said. “I really want other people to understand this option is available to them.”

Bank of us CEO Paul Ranson said the human impact of the MyHome program was a source of great pride.

“We’re proud to be part of MyHome, which is making a big difference for hundreds of customers like Ellie,” he said.

JDR Homes Managing Director Josh Rowe's firm built Ellie’s home. Headquartered in Ulverstone, they have worked across the North-West and North to deliver for MyHome customers.

“MyHome is fantastic,” he says. “We’ve done a number of jobs with this program now.

“From a customers’ point of view, it is great. They can go to the bank and have the budget for their home before they come to the builder.

“The other fantastic thing about it is that everything is included. The things most people would exclude on their building like fencing and landscaping are included, so when people move in it is completely finished.”

As for Ellie, she is looking forward to a yard, a garden, bedrooms for her kids and her “green” kitchen.

MyHome has meant a secure place to raise her children, no longer subject to the vagaries of the rental market, where you don’t get to pick the colour of your rooms.