New incentives are in the works to encourage developers to build affordable housing in Quinte West.
During Wednesday’s meeting of council, councillors heard a report from staff on the parameters for a new Housing Community Improvement Plan.
The plan being worked on for Quinte West suggests waiving development charges for individual units that meet eligibility criteria, as well as offering up to a 15% reduction in property tax over 20 years.These incentives are intended for urban, medium to high density projects, and will not include basement rental apartments.
The report presented to council said that most municipalities with these structures in place offer reduced or waived development charges, tax incentives, or the waiver of other fees such as fees for building permits or planning, and suggested the planned incentives for Quinte West’s plan.
In order to define what counts as affordable housing, the report recommends adopting the affordability criteria set by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Councillor Zack Card was supportive of establishing the incentives, since the municipality cannot build houses directly.
“I think that this is a win win for Quinte West in the sense that the market is not creating affordable housing on its own,” said Councillor Card. “If we do want to move the needle on this issue, I believe wholeheartedly that this is the most effective, efficient way of doing it.”
Council voted to support the parameters set in the report, and directed staff to prepare a detailed community improvement plan.
