Minto Communities, the developer of the 3,800-acre Westlake community, plans to help eligible buyers make down payments on homes at the Palm Beach County development. The program would provide buyers with 3 percent of the purchase price when they buy homes at Westlake, which they may be required to repay.
“Many of the people who contribute the most to Palm Beach County can’t afford to live here,” Mike Belmont, president of Minto Communities USA, said in a prepared statement. “This initiative will help make home ownership here easier to achieve.”
Under the program, home buyers will qualify for participation based on their income. The Palm Beach County Department of Housing and Economic Sustainability will prequalify home buyers for down payment assistance.
Eligible home buyers will accept a 10-year deed restriction at closing that will require repayment of the down payment assistance to the City of Westlake. The deed restriction would expire after 10 years, eliminating any repayment obligation.
Minto will contribute $316,000 to fund down payment assistance for the first 211 homes sold in Westlake’s Hammocks neighborhood.
Separately, for a limited time, Minto will offer a 3 percent discount on new homes in Westlake purchased by such public employees as firefighters, military personnel, police officers and teachers. Home prices at Westlake will start in the $270,000s.