By Cecilia Nasmith
Northumberland County council voted at its June meeting to get behind the Affordable Housing Capital Grant program as presented by Housing Services Manager Rebecca Carman.
Carman described it as a per-unit incentive to be available for every new affordable rental housing unit created.
“It should help achieve some of the goals of our Affordable Housing Strategy and increase the supply of affordable rental housing,” Carman said.
“And it's designed to be attractive even for small developments like second-suite redeveloped units.”
It comes in the form of a forgivable loan of up to $25,000 per unit, with some conditions attached (for instance, the unit has to maintain its affordable status for 25 years, including a five-year transition period).
Once it is approved, the developer will get a conditional letter of approval to help secure other funding or considerations. If no progress is made on the project within a year, the grant can go to another project.
“We do believe this program will further 50 units,” Carman stated.
“We have earmarked $1-million from the Housing Reserve for this program.”
There will be separate applications for larger and smaller developments, she said. And in the case of applicants who are new to entrepreneurship, they are working with the Business and Entrepreneurship Centre of Northumberland in case there are other supports that can help advance these projects.
“This is an exciting program. It's a solid investment in the creation of new affordable housing units,” Carman stated.
Council's motion in response to her presentation was to delegate approval to commit the funding for the Affordable Housing Capital Grant program.
