Women And Home Loans: Phone-in Today

A PHONE-IN is being conducted today by the NSW Ministry for Housing on the availability of housing finance for women.

Women are asked to phone 2604302, 2604303 or 2604392, providing details of their experience_positive or negative_in seeking finance for home purchase or improvement. Calls will be taken between 11 am and 8 pm today.

Respondents will be asked about the amount of loan they requested, the deposit available, the loan and terms offered, as well as their age and income.

Calls are particularly sought from widows, young single women, single mothers, women who are separated or divorced, women sharing a household, Aboriginal women and women from a non-British background.

A report will be presented to Mr Frank Walker, the NSW Minister for Housing, arising from this Women's Housing Finance Inquiry. It will outline the experiences of women seeking housing finance, and will propose a range of options to the public and private sectors to improve access.

For anyone requiring the services of an interpreter, telephone interviews will be held in January.

Volunteers may make written submissions to the Women's Housing Finance Inquiry until mid-January (to Box 4121, GPO Sydney, 2001).