For nearly 14 years, David has served with NSW Police. He’s currently working as a Detective Senior Constable in Sydney’s north-west, driven by the same reason he joined in the first place. “I was looking for a way to serve my community,” David says. “I went to an information day and was basically hooked. It’s the variety that keeps me going. No two days are the same.”
Keira has lived the realities of police work alongside him. With two boys, aged six and ten, the family knows what shift work looks like behind the scenes. “When officers are working in general duties, the roster can mean you essentially become a single parent at times,” Keira says. “It’s a lot, especially with young kids.” Long before they found their home, the pressure wasn’t just the roster or the parenting load. It was the feeling of never being properly settled.
When Homeownership Felt Out of Reach
Before buying, David and Keira spent time living with parents while trying to build a decent deposit in a market that kept moving. “The biggest stress point was always knowing it wasn’t your own space. With two growing boys, that lack of permanence started to wear on all of us,” David says. They imagined the right home as enough room for the boys to grow into teenagers, a backyard that actually felt like a backyard and the kind of stability you can’t get from a lease. They tried to make it happen through a new build, but just as their deposit finally started to look “reasonable,” prices surged again. “We had all but given up hope of being able to buy.”
Finding the Right Home
Then HOPE Housing came into the picture. For David and Keira, it felt like the breakthrough they had been waiting for, a way to finally take their first step onto the property ladder., without compromising on location or the quality of the home they chose. With both the HOPE and Police Bank’s approvals in place, they were able to search with greater confidence and a clear sense of what would suit both their family and their long-term future.
That’s how they found the home in an established part of Jordan Springs, in Sydney’s north-west. The appeal wasn’t polished finishes or a perfect presentation. It was the space, and the garden. It felt like a home where their boys could grow. “The size, and having an actual garden, that’s what made us think, ‘Yep, this is for us’,” David says.
The lounge room has become the heartbeat of the house, and the boys now have their own space to sprawl out and be kids. For David and Keira, that matters. “It’s our own space,” David says. We can change what we want with the house.”
That stability has also changed how David shows up at work. Living closer has reduced commuting stress and eased the constant pressure of balancing the job with family life. “Being closer to work has made it much easier,” he says. “Less stress on the home front.” With that weight lifted, David has been able to focus on the next step in his career. “It has allowed me to focus on trying for promotion,” he says. “I’m working toward that goal.” At the same time, he sees how housing stress is affecting policing more broadly. “Yes, it very much is,” he says. “I see it most days with colleagues struggling to keep up with growing house prices and rental costs.”
Why it Matters
Pat Gooley, Head of the Police Association of NSW, says housing affordability has become a frontline issue in its own right. “Police officers dedicate their careers to protecting our communities, yet many are being priced out of living anywhere near where they serve. Pathways that support stable homeownership help keep experienced officers in the metro area and strengthen the force.”
What Shared Equity Makes Possible
For David and Keira, the moment it became real was after we’d enjoyed that first full weekend in the house,” David says. “Once everything had settled after the move.” That was when they felt the shift, from temporary to permanent; from watching the market run away, to finally standing still.
David is clear about what HOPE’s investors have made possible. “Because of them, our family has our own place, and I can stay close to work.” That is the broader value of shared equity. It does more than help an essential worker buy a home. It helps keep experienced police officers and their families close to the communities they serve and gives them a stronger foundation to keep doing the work those communities rely on.
