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Habitat for Humanity Victoria has begun construction of 11 new affordable family homes in Greater Victoria and is still accepting applications from families that meet the program criteria.

The builds now underway include 10 townhome units in North Saanich and a small singlefamily home in Central Saanich. Two of the homes in the North Saanich project have been specifically designed for families with special accessibility needs, with in-home elevators and barrier-free entry.

“We are thrilled to have finally broken ground on these builds — the largest number of concurrent homes under construction in our history,” said Yolanda Meijer, CEO of Habitat Victoria. “Now that the shovels are in, we expect things to move very quickly.”

Two of the new units are four-bedroom homes, with the rest a mix of two- and threebedroom multi-level homes.

To date, seven families have been selected through Habitat’s application process to work in partnership with the charity to become future homeowners.

The four remaining units join another home in Saanich, the result of buying back an existing Habitat home from a family that moved out of province. “We want to ensure that Habitat’s affordable homeownership is available to a wide range of families,” said Tiffany Gates, family services manager.

Interested families need to be living in the Greater Victoria area, have the ability to pay an affordable mortgage, be willing to partner with Habitat and be in need of a safe and decent place to live. All families must complete 500 hours of volunteer service before purchasing their home.

The homes should be ready for occupancy in March 2021.