Overview

Second report in a five year review of the Capital Indexed Loan (CAPIL) Pilot Scheme initiated by the Victorian Ministry of Housing and Construction which commissioned the study from the Australian Institute of Family Studies in 1986. The scheme has so far provided housing loans for 4500 low income families, with flexible repayment arrangements. The summary report by Maryann Wulff describes the loan recipients, changes to their employment situation, their housing costs, their housing satisfaction, home improvements they made and their understanding of the scheme. While most of the families were meeting their housing costs without difficulty, the additional costs of owning a home, like fuel bills, rates and repair costs caused dissatisfaction. An unexpected finding was that families on the scheme increased their employment and income, more than families in a comparison sample of renters in the private and public market. In addition the proportion not working declined from 81 per cent to 64 per cent. On the negative side, a key finding of the study was that many families did not understand how a CAPIL loan operated.