OLDS – A committee formed last fall to look into the need for affordable housing in Olds reported to council on June 12.
That committee and its work is part of an overall strategy to assess the need for affordable housing in Olds from youth to seniors.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams told council the hope is to have a “high level strategy” in place in one to two years, putting the town in a solid position to apply for grants from the Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation (CMHC).
The strategy includes completing an assessment of the need for affordable housing, requested last summer by the province.
A rental market analysis report is also being completed. That work began in early spring and is being done by economic development officer Sandra Blyth in conjunction with McElhanney Engineering.
That work is expected to be completed in late June and a brought to council this summer.
Williams said he and Blyth have met with several developers – mainly local ones – about the possibility of constructing affordable housing in town.
“What we're hearing right now is that the current environment is bad for everything economic-wise,” he said.
“Interest rates is only a small part of it. Building materials is the biggest challenge right now that people are facing.”
Williams said the conclusion was that in order to make something like that happen there’s going to have to be some sort of subsidy, most likely from the CMHC.
He said the town is doing its part by creating tax incentives for such projects, something advocated by potential developers.
It’s looking at other incentives it can offer as well, like possibly reducing offsite levies, which developers pay to cover the cost that the impact developments will have on areas outside the area being developed.
“Developers will play a huge role in it (affordable housing), because the town will never build an affordable housing building or own one or upgrade one, so the private sector is a huge piece to making this happen,” Williams said.
An analysis of the gap between what the demand is and what’s available and what sorts of affordable housing Olds could realistically provide is also part of the project.
“We’re trying to prove that Olds needs this, that private sector dollars are worth investing here in the housing market – specifically in the rental housing market,” Williams said.
Williams noted that the CMHC, which he described as “the breadbasket of all things” housing-related is pushing a mainly European model of housing
Those developments house people of all ages, from the young to seniors, thereby providing an opportunity for all the generations to interact and support each other.
“I don't know how it will look, but CMHC certainly is pushing that at a high level -- to such an extent that some of the pieces of the grant application -- for instance, the housing accelerator fund, or the rapid housing initiative, programs through CMHC -- are simply asking, ‘send us something, send us your ideas and see if we'll fund it,’ which is very strange language for federal grant,” he said.
During the June 12 meeting, Chylla Nault, who provides assistance to Williams as well as council, delivered a report on behalf of the town’s affordable housing working group.
That committee, which includes Nault as well as representatives of the town’s community services department, was tasked with three things:
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Completing an assessment on the need for affordable housing requested by the province;
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Complimenting a 2023 rental market analysis report underway;
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Building a foundation for future work on the issue.
A survey undertaken by the town found that the top four housing issues in the community are the cost of ownership, lack of options, the cost of renting, and lack of pet-friendly housing, she said.
The survey found that those facing the greatest challenge in finding housing are single-parent households, single people and families, she said.
“We don't have inventory that matches and fits those groups’ needs,” she said.
The town also needs to provide affordable housing to encourage Olds College grads to obtain jobs and remain in the community, she said.
Also, many people who do work in Olds live in other communities because there is no housing here that they can afford.
“There's also an underlying assumption that a more robust rental market will lead to a healthier overall real estate market,” she said.
“To continue making Olds alive with opportunity, it is vital that we have a community that offers housing for people of all demographics. Olds wants to be a community that offers an incredible place to work, play, and live.
“These people could be new to Canada, young people from our community, college students, those who want to age in place, young families, people who work in Olds and live in other communities."
"We've got an exciting future ahead of us,” Mayor Judy Dahl said as council voted to accept Nault’s presentation. "Keep up the good work.”
