Affordable housing takes slow steps: city report

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/11/2022 (1101 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg’s efforts to attract affordable housing are generating mixed results in the midst of an apparent shortage.

A variety of civic incentives and efforts to tap into federal housing supports will produce at least 180 affordable and transitional housing units in 2022, though more applications are still being reviewed, according to a new city report.

The results show Winnipeg has come closer to filling its housing gap but much more work is needed, according to the head of council’s property and development committee.

“You start to feel a bit more positive that the momentum is going in the right way (seeing these results),” said Coun. Sherri Rollins. “(But) we have a lot of core housing need. We have children coming out of care. We have seniors that have no unit options that are both accessible, as they age, and affordable.”

Rollins estimates Winnipeg needs about 1,300-1,500 more affordable housing units per year, while it must also ensure existing units aren’t lost.

The number attained so far this year appears far shy of that goal, but Rollins noted the city report only reflects a small group of government efforts to meet the need. A growing number of developer-led projects that include affordable housing units aren’t included in the estimate, she said.

Recent municipal incentives have had mixed results.

A program to sell surplus city-owned lots to non-profit housing providers at an up-to-50 per cent discount from assessed value has yet to result in new affordable housing units this year.

In 2022, 10 properties were listed for sale through the program, but zero had sold by Sept. 30. The list includes up to six that could be sold for as little as $1 each to attract affordable homes that meet net-zero energy efficiency standards.

“The lack of uptake… may suggest the discounts are not enough to create viable projects at this time… The situation is also exacerbated by COVID-19 cost implications and inflation,” the city report notes.

A program that offers affordable housing grants and tax-increment financing deals — the latter could waive up to 80 per cent of municipal taxes for up to 25 years for some projects — is currently expected to produce 123 units of affordable housing in 2022.

Another 57 housing units will be funded through federal rapid housing initiative projects this year.

The city should continue to offer all existing incentives to attract as much affordable housing as possible, despite this year’s apparent lack of interest in discounted surplus lots, Rollins said.

“We have a rental market that is really rapidly becoming less affordable, and that’s really important (to address),” she said.

A local not-for-profit housing provider said the general 50 per cent discount on surplus lots may not be enough to ensure developers of affordable homes break even on their investment.

“It’s so expensive to build that the city has to basically give those lots away… to let someone develop them for affordable housing,” said Frank Zappia, a realtor for Housing Opportunity Partnership.

“The cost of building now has gone through the roof.”

Since affordable homes, by definition, must be sold at reduced prices, soaring construction costs are less likely to be covered through these projects, said Zappia.

Council’s property and development committee will discuss the affordable housing update at a Nov. 30 meeting.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga