The number of families waiting for assisted housing across Canada is very long. At the end of October 2006, there were 3,442 families on the London and Middlesex Housing Corporation's waiting list alone. But the London & St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® and three partner groups are hoping their new initiative will help to make a dent in that list.

Home at Last is a public-private partnership that will help families in the London area who are currently living in assisted housing achieve their dream of home ownership. In addition to freeing up assisted units for, the project will serve as a kind of field classroom for high school construction students, who will be observing and, at times, assisting members of the London Home Builders Association with the renovation . Home at Last was officially launched on November 18th and the first participants have been selected. The partners hope to have the renovations for the first home completed by February 14th 2007 – Valentine's Day.

“We've had phenomenal cooperation and support in this venture,” says Mike Carson, President-Elect of the London & St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®. “The City of London came forward with a grant of $10,000 towards the project and individuals and corporations have been extraordinarily generous in their donation of both goods and services.” The other two partners in the initiative are the London Affordable Housing Foundation and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

CREA represents more than 88,000 REALTORS® across Canada. The Association owns the MLS® trademark, has proprietary ownership of the REALTOR® trademark, and operates national web sites including mls.ca for residential properties and ICX.CA for commercial listings across Canada.