A Rent to Own program coming to Langford's new Crossing at Belmont is going to allow more people to get into the housing market.
All the buildings involved in the project are still in the construction phase. The Crossing at Belmont is scheduled to be finished in Fall 2019, while Belmont West will be done in 2020, and the East will be completed in 2022.
Director of Development for the Belmont's Residences, Marcela Corzo, says the program will take a portion of the rent, and put it towards buying an apartment. However, she says the unit you rent in The Crossing will not be the one you're paying to buy.
"We have 156 rental units, and those units will be rented as part of the rental program, but actually the units that you can buy will be Belmont Residence West and Belmont Residence East, which is across from the Crossing."
She says qualified residents will be able to put aside 25 % of their rent each month, which will be used as a credit to the new unit. She says while they don't have an exact amount the units will cost to rent, she suspects a 2-bedroom would be $2,000 a month.
"So let's say 25% of that is $500 per month, that you would get for free, and you get some rewards and points, that could be transferred into the purchase into a Belmont's Residence East or West. Now, Belmont's Residences' East will be finished around 27 months. So you start Fall 2019, we figured people will be there 27 months. So 27 times 500, that's 13,500."
She says that figure comes out to be about 5% of the price of the unit, and it will be up to the resident to make up the rest for a down payment.
Corzo adds that the money put aside is part of a loyalty program, the Belmont Rental Rewards Program, and the program will only last 36 months. The credits are valued at $500, and cannot be redeemed for cash, though she adds that the money saved will make a big difference when renters want to take out a mortage and become owners.
This is the first Rent to Own program on Vancouver Island, but Corzo says she expects to see more of this in the future, given the difficulty in getting into the market.