By Bryn Hadubiak

PA receiving new affordable rental housing units

Jun 13, 2014 | 4:34 PM

The provincial and federal governments are helping fund the building of new affordable rental housing units in Prince Albert.

River Bank Development Corporation is building six, 560 square foot, one bedroom units at 3096-5A Avenue East, with one of them being “barrier free” for people in wheelchairs or with other special needs.

“This is the first time we’ve done a multiplex unit, so it was a bit of a new journey for us,” said Brian Howell, manager for River Bank.

“There are things that when you move from duplexes up to four and six-plexes, the rules change quite a bit. It’s a bit of a learning experience for us too,” he said.

Each unit will have a living room, kitchen and bathroom. They will be rented out to single people who have difficulty finding normal housing and are at risk of becoming homeless.

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Although the vacancy rate for normal rental unit in Prince Albert is high at seven per cent, the vacancy rate in social housing is zero, he said. Prince Albert has only 18 affordable units now, with an additional 107 planned after these six, according to the Province.

“There’s a real affordability issue that people at the bottom of the economic scale, whether they’re working people or in lower paying jobs or receiving help from income support programs, are really struggling, and there’s a real shortage of good housing,” Howell explained.

One problem is with low-income people renting older houses, due to their lower value and lower rents, he said.

“That kind of housing is always being lost to the market because it’s being demolished or there are fires … so you’ve got a constant loss of affordable housing,” Howell explained.

Another problem is many apartment buildings are being bought by larger companies outside of the city, raising the rents a bit, he added.

“They’re looking for tenants that have stable employment, who can pay the rent from a monthly debit from their account without any problems.”

If you counted by the end of the year, you’d probably find there’s a few less units than a few more, said Howell.

“Projects like this really help to change that, that’s why it’s so important for governments to stay involved to keep things going.”

The provincial and federal governments are providing a combined funding of $455,000 for the project, with River Bank providing another $270,000 through mortgage financing and cash equity.

Howell said they’re hoping to have the units finished by the end of the year or the start of the next, depending on the weather.

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @brynhadubiak