The provincial and federal government celebrated the official opening of 12 affordable rental housing units in Regina with a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday.
“This project is interesting, because it’s not all in one location. It’s at nine different locations throughout the city of Regina,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale explained.
The units are a mix of duplexes and two-storey family units. Most of the rentals are located in the North Central neighbourhood.
The federal and provincial government, through the Saskatchewan Housing Corporate (SHC) and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) jointly contributed $240,000.
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That money will go towards six of the 12 units over the course of ten years. The savings for low income families equate to $300 per month.
“This gives the individual or the family a really good running start to be able to make sure that they have some sort of help and assistance with their housing needs,” MLA Regina Rochdale Laura Ross said.
According to Avana Homes president Jennifer Denouden, the total affordable rental housing project costs $2.4 million.
“It’s very important to give back, and what better way to give back as a homebuilding company that to invest in affordable housing,” Denouden said.
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According to the latest “Housing Market Outlook” according to CMHC’s Spring 2016 forecast, rental vacancies across Regina are at an all time high.
Still, the federal government said investing in social infrastructure, and specifically social housing, will help boost the economy.
“We increased over the next two years, the federal investment (of Affordable Housing Agreement) by 1.5 billion dollars. That is part of the acceleration that we’re making in infrastructure across the country,” Goodale said.
The province acknowledges there is more social housing that needs to be addressed, but believes this is a start.
“We have more work to do, there’s just no doubt about that … We’re committed to helping ensure that families and individuals have good quality homes,” Ross explained.
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