New programs bolster affordable housing
With thousands of residents waiting years for affordable housing units to become available, Niagara Region is developing new programs that could help reduce the number of people on Niagara Regional Housing’s waiting list.
The Region’s planning and development services commissioner, Rino Mostacci, said one project being developed — called the alternative service delivery model — would increase Niagara’s stock of affordable apartments through regional contributions towards the cost of new multi-residential developments.
The Region, for instance, would pitch in 20 per cent towards the construction cost of a building, while retaining rights to 20 per cent of the units within the completed building.
Rent charged for those apartments would then be subsidized, and “offered to folks who are on our waiting list” at Niagara Regional Housing, Mostacci said.
The program would accomplish that without directly impacting taxes.
While the new tax assessment created as a result of the developments would pay for rent subsidies, Mostacci said development charges would cover the initial 20 per cent investment.
“In the end, it’s a net zero way to provide additional rental housing,” he said.
He said work on developing the program began under the leadership of the Region’s former acting corporate services commissioner, Jason Burgess, as a way to use development charges to increase the number of affordable housing units.
Burgess, Mostacci added, has been retained by the Region to continue working to develop the alternative service delivery model.
Mostacci said the program is still a few months away from being presented to council for consideration.
“It’s still in the preliminary stages and it hasn’t been to council yet in terms of a program. It’s been presented more as an idea,” Mostacci said.
He said the Region hopes to issue a request for expressions of interests from developers in September, “just to gauge the level of interest.”
It’s also a “complementary effort” to plans being considered to adopt a hybrid governance model for Niagara Regional Housing, allowing the social housing department to continue managing its real estate holdings, while Niagara’s community services division would take over management of the organization’s programs.
The proposed governance model will be considered by regional council in September as well.
Meanwhile, an additional program could increase the number of affordable housing units in St. Catharines. At Thursday night’s meeting, regional council will consider approval of a provincial development charges rebate program for new multi-residential buildings in that city
Although the Region applied for the provincial funding on behalf of eight Niagara municipalities with vacancy rates of less than three per cent, Mostacci said St. Catharines was the only local municipality approved by the province — providing up to $2.8 million over the next five years.
The funding should be enough to provide development charge rebates for 48 apartments.