Andrew Mills has been appointed as the new CEO of HomeStart Finance, taking over from John Oliver who will retire in December.
Mills has been with the South Australian stalwart for over a decade and is promoted from his previous position as chief financial officer.
HomeStart occupies a unique position in the market, as it is backed by the South Australian government and has a strong emphasis on community and a commitment to helping people to get onto the property ladder.
“I’m really, truly excited by the chance to lead HomeStart,” said Mills. “It’s an organisation that I believe in strongly, I believe in our reason for being, which is to make homeownership a reality for more people in more ways. I also believe in the role that we play in the community, helping people to overcome the barriers to homeownership.”
“With house prices accelerating quite quickly in the last 12 months, the need for an organisation like us in the market has never been stronger. I take a lot of pride in that and I’m proud that the organisation is in a strong position.”
“We have a really great team, a great network of brokers out there helping the community find out about HomeStart loans. There’s some terrific opportunities ahead.”
Mills set out his stall to provide access to finance for those that might otherwise struggle. HomeStart has helped almost 80,000 people in South Australia to get onto the property ladder since inception in 1989, while generating nearly $800m for the state coffers in the process.
“The way that we look at life is that, if people are trying to get into homeownership, there’s usually three problems that they need to solve,” said Mills.
“The first is if they can raise enough purchasing power to access the property market in the first place, and to do so in a sustainable fashion without over-committing themselves. The second problem is around the upfront costs, around the deposit and stamp duty and things like that. The third is around confidence, knowledge of the market and financial literacy.”
“The place that HomeStart fills the gap is solving those problems for customers from all walks of life, be they first home buyers, people getting back into the market after a relationship breakdown or some other circumstances.”
“We are the organisation that can help people to get back into homeownership and build up a sustainable future.”
