It started with the flood.
In February 2022, the Northern Rivers went under. The Wilsons River at Lismore peaked at 14.37 metres — higher than any flood since records began. Four people died in Lismore. Thousands of homes were destroyed or left unliveable.
What happened afterwards was the part that stayed with us. People who had owned their homes outright were suddenly left with a slab, a mortgage-free block they could not rebuild on, and no way to borrow. Rentals disappeared. Insurance fell short or never came. Families who had been stable for decades were living in sheds, caravans and spare rooms, and then quietly left the region altogether.
Rehome Roots was founded to answer a specific question: what would actually get someone back into a home they own, rather than into temporary accommodation that runs out?
The answer we landed on was a rent-to-buy model. Place a real, permanent, quality home. Set repayments against what the person can genuinely afford. When it is paid off, it is theirs — and every dollar they repaid has already gone into housing someone else.
Disaster is only one way people lose a home. The housing crisis, illness, separation and sudden job loss do the same thing, quietly, all the time. The model works for all of them.
