A new report proposes that the City of Nelson form a municipal housing corporation.
The Greater Nelson Housing Entity Study, presented to council at its Oct. 24 meeting, says such a corporation would allow the city to become more active in providing non-market rental housing for people looking to work in Nelson.
The study was commissioned by the Nelson and Area Economic Development Partnership (NAEDP), the City of Nelson and the Regional District of Central Kootenay because local employers are unable to staff their businesses due to a lack of housing.
“What we have heard from the retail sector,” said NAEDP’s Andrea Wilkey, “is that housing shortages make it nearly impossible to hire new staff from outside the region. And from the construction sector, we’ve heard that potential new hires contemplating relocation are unable to find or afford rentals and Nelson.”
The proposed corporation would construct housing for working individuals and families, funded and financed by BC Housing and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, on land provided by the city and operated by a local non-profit housing provider.
Even though non-profit organizations such as Nelson CARES have already built affordable housing funded by BC Housing, the new study points out that these have mostly been aimed at low-income populations and people needing special services. There is still a need for a focus on housing options to meet the needs of moderate-income workers.
Wilkey said these proposals are intended to address the housing crisis in Nelson, in which 23 per cent 0f Nelson residents spend over 30 per cent of their household income on shelter costs, and the vacancy rate has been less than zero since 2014.
Consultants Jenna Hildebrand and Sandy Mackay of the consulting company M’akola Development Services presented the study to council.
“The housing development corporation would act as a land steward and-or housing facilitator and partner with existing non-profits who would operate the units,” Hildebrand said, adding that in addition to the land, the city would have to provide some pre-development funding.
The housing corporation or the city itself would own the buildings. Mackay said the cost to the city of developing and running the corporation could be up to $250,000 per year not including the value of the land.
Because the development of such a corporation — deciding how it would be governed, funded and operated — will take some time, M’akola also offered some short-term recommendations to be undertaken as alternatives or in the meantime.
In the short term
The report recommends the city and the RDCK do three things in the near future, whether or not it intends to go forward with the formation of a housing corporation.
• Identify municipal and-or regional land that is suitable for non-market affordable housing and develop a land disposal process or strategy.
“It has become common practice across the province for municipalities to dispose of land for the purpose of non-market affordable housing,” Hildebrand told council. “And municipalities that share similar affordable housing challenges with Nelson, such as Revelstoke, are beginning to play a larger role in non-market housing development.”
Hildebrand said the Tofino Housing Corporation and Cowichan Housing Association are also notable models, adding that similar work is also being done in Whistler, Squamish, Vancouver, and Victoria, as well as in Canmore, Banff and Medicine Hat, Alta.
• Identify and partner with non-profit operators in the Nelson area who could operate a development. They would apply for provincial and federal government funding opportunities, for example from BC Housing and the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation funding (CMHC), that would finance the building construction.
“There is now an unprecedented level of funding available for affordable housing development,” Hildebrand said, adding that Nelson already has non-profit organizations, such as Nelson CARES and Share Nelson, with expertise in obtaining money for housing development.
• Start a pre-development fund to assist non-profit operators with the planning and pre-development costs of building new non-market, affordable housing.
A pre-development fund would, according to Mackay, pay for site studies, geotechnical studies, environmental assessment and architectural work, all in preparation for constructing a building.
Hildbrand told council this third recommendation comes from experience.
“We have been hearing from non-profit operators that one of the biggest hurdles of getting a project off the ground is this initial feasibility work. But if there is some investment from the municipality it can really unlock great amounts of funding from BC Housing or CMHC for example.”
Mackey said that whether the city decides to form a corporation or simply go with assisting non-profit groups, the projects will amount to a positive investment in the community.
Hildebrand said M’akola’s next steps will be to do further research into how to further the three recommendations above, as well as the long-term goal of forming a housing corporation, which it will also present to the city, the NAEDP and the RDCK.
The report was presented at a committee of the whole meeting, during which city councillors hear but don’t make decisions on requests.
READ MORE:
• COLUMN: Affordable housing more complex than pithy election promises
• B.C. well behind homebuilding pace needed to make housing affordable: CMHC
• New housing legislation promises to create 130,000 homes in B.C. in 10 years