Source Feed: City of Ottawa News Releases
Author: City of Ottawa - Media Relations / Ville d'Ottawa - Relations avec les médias
Publication Date: November 6, 2024 - 15:28
Committees approve long-range financial plan update for housing
November 6, 2024
The Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing Committees today approved an updated Housing Services Long Range Financial Plan.
The Finance and Corporate Services and Planning and Housing Committees today approved an updated Housing Services Long Range Financial Plan for 2025 through 2030. The updated plan will help the City stay on track with the 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan objective of delivering 500 new affordable units annually.
Since Council adopted the last plan in March 2021, construction costs and financing rates have increased significantly. To help meet City housing targets in light of the added budget pressure, the City would increase its annual contribution from taxation for affordable housing by $1 million per year for the next six years. This would increase the affordable housing annual base budget capital contribution from $9 million to $15 million by 2030. All net proceeds from the Vacant Unit Tax would also go toward that base budget.
With the committed, predictable and sustainable funding available from the City, this will increase annual funding from $18.9 million in 2025 to $22.4 million in 2030 for a total of $122.3 million over six years. These funds will then be supplemented each year by any additional revenues received and designated to affordable housing from the previous year, such as surplus land sales and community benefit charges. These additional revenues are estimated to be $24.3 million over the next six years. Additionally, if changes to the Vacant Unit Tax program are approved, this could add an additional $4 million in 2025 and as much as $27 million over the next six years.
The Committees also approved the 2024 Affordable Housing Capital Strategy. The strategy would allocate more than $13.9 million in additional funding for affordable housing that was identified through the 2024 City budget. Funding for specific projects includes:
- Up to $1.36 million to Shepherds of Good Hope to support the continued development of 48 supportive housing units at 216 Murray Street
- Up to $1.65 million to Centretown Citizens of Ottawa Corporation to support the development of 10 new affordable rental units at 171 Armstrong Avenue
- Up to $3 million to Habitat for Humanity to support construction of affordable home ownership modular projects at two City-owned sites. The City-owned sites would be identified in a separate report, anticipated in Q1 2025
- Up to $6 million to Ottawa Community Housing Corporation to build approximately 90 affordable rental units at 1770 Heatherington Road
- Updating property eligibility to add another 1,200 residential properties and to exclude farms as residential units
- Adding exemptions for ineligible rural properties, medical care properties and hazardous properties outside of an owner’s control
- Enhancing an existing renovation exemption to remove the building permit requirement for one-time retrofit renovation per property and owner, where the unit is occupied within one year
- Implementing a graduated VUT rate that would increase the tax rate by one per cent per year for repeat vacancies, up to a maximum of five percent of the residential assessed value – this could generate up to $4 million in additional revenue for housing initiatives
- Allowing property owners an additional 15 months to submit late appeals beyond the current deadline, with an administrative fee
- Clarifying by-law terminology
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