On the heels of a municipal meeting on homelessness and affordable housing, Chatham-Kent’s mayor says more needs to be done.
It’s not a groundbreaking statement by any means, but Darrin Canniff says with a vacancy rate of 1%, something’s got to give.
“Every 100 apartments that are out there, only one is vacant and the cost of renting is on the way up, so we need to be building more affordable housing for the people who don’t have a roof over their head, and a big reason why is the affordability of them.”
However, when it comes to creating more affordable housing, Canniff says the municipality can’t go it alone.
“We need to look for private investors, we need help from the federal and provincial government,” Canniff explains. “It’s not just an issue in Chatham-Kent, it’s an issue across the country as far as affordable housing goes. Our two other levels of government need to step up big time to help the municipality remediate some of the issues we’re having.”
Following Monday night’s meeting, administration will look into the feasibility of developments on some parcels of municipally-owned lands, including a proposed project in Wallaceburg.
A consultant will be hired to provide design options and cost estimates for site servicing, construction, and environmental site remediation, if necessary.
The study will be funded from the Housing Services Operations reserve and through non-municipal sources, where available.
