University of Winnipeg lawn becomes Habitat for Humanity homebuilding site

The lawn of a campus is usually filled with students, books and Frisbee, but at the University of Winnipeg, the grass is covered withthe walls, floor and doors of a home.

It's one of the newest builds from Habitat for Humanity Manitoba.

"The purpose of doing it in this manner, in front of the university, is to draw attention to the need for affordable housing in our community, generally, and the need for housing for our Indigenous partner families specifically," said Sandy Hopkins, the CEO for Habitat for Humanity.

The house will bebuilt on the downtown campus before it is moved to its permanent location in Point Douglas next month.

Kyle Warren and his familywill be moving in.

"It feels absolutely great," he said. "It's a really great feeling."

Hopkins said one of the misconceptions people have about Habitat homes is that they are given away for free.

"We sell them to our partner families at market rates," he said.

What makes the home affordable is that there is no down payment and no interest on the mortgage.

The family also completes 500 hours of work, called sweat equity, and spends a minimum of 100 hours building the home.

• Habitat for Humanity launches home repairs, renos program