VERNON – Vernon-Monashee MLA Harwinder Sandhu is welcoming 29 new affordable rental homes coming to the Vernon area for people with low-to-moderate incomes.
Provided by the Building BC: Community Housing Fund, these new homes are part of 16 new projects, which will provide a total of 634 new homes across the province. Construction for two projects in the Vernon area with a total of 29 units will begin in the spring of 2021.
“Access to affordable housing is important for the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, and our community as a whole,” said Sandhu. “I’m proud that our New Democrat government is delivering much-needed affordable housing for people in Vernon.”
In Vernon, 13 units for families, seniors, and people with disabilities will be constructed in partnership with the Vernon and District Community Land Trust in the 6300 block of Okanagan Landing Road, and 16 units for Elders, couples, and families will be constructed on Reserve #1 in partnership with the Okanagan Indian Band.
The Community Housing Fund supports mixed-income buildings. These projects have 50% of units for households with incomes up to $64,000, 30% of units for households with incomes up to approximately $74,000, and 20% of units for households with very low incomes (including those on income or disability assistance).
The Request for Proposals for the current intake of the Community Housing Fund, which launched in May, is open until mid-January 2021. Approximately 3,000 new affordable homes are expected to be funded this intake – the second since 2017. The first seven projects funded through this intake were announced in September 2020.
The Community Housing Fund is part of the BC NDP government’s 10-year $7-billion housing plan. It is an investment of $1.9 billion to build more than 14,000 mixed-income rental homes for moderate- and low-income families and individuals. In two and a half years, more than 5,700 homes are already completed, under construction or in development through the Community Housing Fund program in more than 45 communities.
Learn More: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020AG0063-001990