As Chatham-Kent’s residential development boom continues, more questions are being raised about the lack of affordable housing.
Mayor Darrin Canniff says some progress is being made, but the municipality can’t do it alone.
“We definitely need more affordable housing. A few weeks ago at council we approved a 30-unit affordable housing (project) which the municipality is kicking in a pretty large sum of money to make that happen,” Canniff says. “In order to get things moving forward, we need more federal and provincial funding, it’s a key piece to that.”
The municipality offers an incentive program for developers who build affordable housing with more than 10 units, offering 10 years tax-free.
“The municipality is doing everything we can to incentivize it, certainly looking for more federal and provincial funding. I’m hopeful that over the next little while there’s some funding announced that we can take advantage of and create more affordable housing here.”
With the local real estate market continually setting new price records, first time home ownership is becoming out of reach for many. And while a number of new apartment complexes have either been approved by the municipality or had construction begin in the last year, the majority of those are financially out of reach for most low or fixed income residents.
