People in your community, and all over the world, partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. With our help, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and their families.
All Habitat Trinidad and Tobago Homeowners pay an affordable mortgage, and they agree to do so when they sign the legal loan agreement. We can also provide alternative shelter solutions depending on the need and the land tenure circumstances of the families – materials-only, repairs, renovations, technical services and other micro-finance products.
Construction and materials funding is raised through corporate and individual donations, and in all cases, each family pays a small amount over the course of the 3- to 30-year mortgage period. Homeowners benefit from a no-profit loan. For a 3-bedroom house costing TT$150,000, a home partner may have to repay an average of TT$700 (USD100) a month over 25 years (300 months).
Each Homeowner must contribute at least 300 hours of labour – 100 hours toward his or her own home and 200 hours on the home(s) of members of the community, or any other community activity. This labour requirement is called sweat equity.
