Saanich will now have a formal process for developers to apply for the district’s financial help for non-market housing projects.
Council unanimously approved creation of the Saanich Affordable Housing Reserve Fund on Monday.
“We now have a very clear criteria in terms of how the money gets collected, how much money is collected on a per door and square footage basis, and then importantly how that money gets allocated and how it can be utilized by a non-profit housing provider to help offset some of their costs,” said Mayor Dean Murdock.
Saanich has had an affordable housing fund since 2008 but there was never any eligibility criteria and no application process. Applicants were left to find out about the fund via word of mouth and submitted informal funding requests along with their development-permit applications.
As a result, the fund, which currently boasts just over $2 million, has doled out only $81,250 on average each year. Nine projects have received a total of $1.3 million since 2008.
“Giving it this kind of definition and predictability is exactly what the fund required,” Murdock said. “I think it also creates some certainty for the non-profit housing community to have a leverage point in which they can ideally utilize funding to help add to that pot to make housing more affordable.”
Coun. Teale Phelps Bondaroff said formal creation of the reserve fund makes transparent a process that had been “a little opaque.”
“I think that’s really important and I think it’s also [that] we’re demonstrating our commitment to affordable housing,” he said.
The fund comes from developers’ cash contributions in lieu of public amenities during development.
Approximately $2,000 to $2,500 per door in a development has been collected in community-amenity contributions.
Murdock noted that contributions are collected from for-profit developers through cash-in-lieu payments when market developments are not in a position to provide affordable units as part of their projects. “It’s an acknowledgement that there needs to be a contribution towards affordability, but a physical unit isn’t going to be built as part of those projects. But the contribution will allow an affordable unit to be built in another location.”
Housing providers that apply for grants from the new fund must be non-profit organizations that provide affordable rental housing.
Eligible proponents can request up to $40,000 in pre-development grants for things like feasibility studies, professional appraisals, site surveys and preliminary designs.
Proponents can apply for capital grants for new construction based on the number of units in their projects – the amount ranges from $2,000 per door for studio units to $4,000 per door for four-bedroom units.
