Quinte West Council has approved a new housing improvement plan, intended to increase available housing in the municipality.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, council discussed the new plan as presented to them by staff. A public meeting was also held, allowing for comments on the plan to be received.
The goal of the plan is to improve housing availability and affordability, with incentive programs. The incentives are targeted towards building rental units.
A deficit of affordable housing units was identified by municipal staff, with approximately 1600 new units needed to meet the current demand, with the majority being one- to two-bedroom units geared towards low income families.
The plan includes numerous incentives for developing the types of homes needed to address the shortfall. Those incentives include a property tax credit for purpose-built rental units with affordable units qualifying for additional credit, a grant to cover part of development charges, grants to assist in construction of accessory rental units, and reductions in applicable municipal fees such as building permits for purpose-built rental housing.
The plan was approved, with funding aspects of the plan forwarded to upcoming budget deliberations.
