The County of Haliburton and City of Kawartha Lakes want to educate developers through information sessions about incentives to create affordable housing.
The Feb. 11 and Feb. 13 events in Haliburton and Fenelon Falls will also invite housing providers, non-profits, landlords and homeowners to learn. The presentations will touch on several kinds of housing which can receive a boost, including new construction, rehabilitation and secondary suites.
City of Kawartha Lakes manager of housing Hope Lee said knowledge is limited about what programs are out there for affordable housing development.
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding, too. I think some people think it’s just building larger rental buildings. It’s not,” Lee said. “It’s also about building affordable ownership homes. It’s about landlords who have units to offer that we can provide subsidies in. It’s about private homeowners who have the ability to create a secondary suite.”
The City and County have both committed to developing more affordable housing over the next 10 years, with the County aiming for 750 units and the City for 2,000. In a press release, the City said the municipalities would need outside help to meet the targets.
“The affordable housing targets set by municipalities are only achievable with participation from developers, community housing providers, non-profits, landlords and residents,” it said.
Lee said the presentation would discuss municipal plans and contextualize affordable housing in the region. She said they hope to get some expressions of interest to work from.
“We’re going to help people understand each of the program types. There will be an expression of interest roll out in a couple of months, we want people to know about that,” she said. “The municipalities have a set budget around them. They’re going to look at what’s recommended from the expressions of interest and what they can afford to approve each year.”
