Second Annual Fredericton Housing Day Report
The City of Fredericton with its partners Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, New Brunswick Department of Social Development, Service Canada and New Brunswick Non-Profit Housing Association offered the second annual Fredericton Affordable Housing Day on November 18 at Kilarney Lake Lodge.
This year's event was themed 'What's in it for me' and featured several guest speakers and presenters who provided their own perspective on affordable housing. Close to 80 individuals representing housing groups, builders, real estate agencies, lenders and provincial and municipal government departments participated in the full-day session facilitated by Jacques Paynter, Principal Socio-Economist with Amec. The session's special guest speaker, Ed Power, shared practical information about his work as a private developer giving excellent examples of innovative affordable housing solutions, the benefits of affordable housing and the partnerships required. The session finished with a review and analysis of the information presented throughout the day; determining priorities going forward; and developing an action plan for boosting the role of the private developer and advancing greater appreciation of the issue in the community.
The two guest speakers Mary Schryer, Minister of the NB Department of Social Development and Carolyn Kavanagh, General Manager of the CMHC Atlantic Business Centre set the tone for the day emphasizing the importance of fostering partnerships between all three levels of government, agencies and members of community.
Minister Schryer shared the following affordable housing development statistics from her department for 2008:
- The Provincial Affordable Housing Program commitments were $42 million resulting in the development of 24 projects
- 485 new housing units were created in the province of which 300 are subsidized
- 45 new rent supplements, representing a cost of seven million dollars, were created in the City of Fredericton
She addressed the need to create integrated housing in future housing projects where residents from different income levels live in the same development and challenged communities to tackle NIMBY issues. She also took this opportunity to encourage active public engagement in the poverty reduction initiative recently announced by her Department and closely linked to provincial housing needs.
Ms. Kavanagh reiterated Ms. Schryer's comments on the importance of partnerships in creating affordable housing and lasting solutions and added that sustainable housing is only achievable when it's a 'win-win situation for all parties involved'. She congratulated the Skigin Elnoog Corporation on receiving the CMHC's Housing Award for its Aboriginal Homeownership Programs.
What's in it for me?
(Perspectives on Affordable Housing)
The following is a synopsis of the day's presentations.
Ed Power of Power Development & Consultants Inc. is a Newfoundland developer, President of the Canadian Homebuilders' Association for Eastern Newfoundland and currently Co-Chair of the Affordable Housing Action Committee for the City of St. John's. An active builder in both the private and non-profit sector, Mr. Power is developing seven non-profit housing projects across Newfoundland and in Labrador. He also owns two private affordable housing projects, an 8-unit and a 20-unit project under development in the St. John's CMA.
Mr. Power titled his presentation: "Affordable Housing: A Market Niche. What's in it for us?" He emphasized the importance for the business sector to know 'what's in it for them' and encouraged private developers to become involved in affordable housing projects as another way to raise their corporate profile and enhance goodwill in their respective communities while at the same time, respecting the bottom line; ie, making it a profitable venture. He explained how he has built a consortium of expertise enabling him to build both private affordable ownership and affordable rental housing.
His work has led to numerous innovative solutions on how to build affordable housing, often relying on easy product replication and factory built solutions, such as Maple Leaf Home modules which he integrates into his developments. Several examples of his innovative & profitable affordable housing projects are contained in his power point presentation, which is attached to this report.
The following are some examples of his private affordable housing developments:
· Coventry Wood is an affordable ownership 92-unit development targeted to low to middle income earners. Built on 10 acres of land, the size of the homes in this development was determined by the mortgages these earners could afford. The development includes two-bedroom houses ranging in size from 770-1100 sq feet with an average size house of 880 square feet. A third of these homeowners are women.
· Cloudberry Condominiums is a 20-unit mixed project of affordable ownership and affordable rental units.
· Innovative Condo is another example of a mixed development where a 2-unit detached condominium is nestled in a single-family home subdivision on one of every 10 lots. The main floor condominium offers affordable ownership with no government subsidy and the subsidiary apartment offers affordable rent. The condominium corporation manages the affordable rental units and common areas. Mr. Power owns the units and manages the project. The seed funding for this project was provided by CMHC.
Working with Non-Profits: Mr. Power described how he works with non-profits starting with the initial idea for the project through to the final stage of implementing ultimate property management. After seed funding is obtained from CMHC, he assists with the business plan, detail construction drawings and final costing, construction of the structure, a mortgage plan and finally management of people and property. He cited several examples of his affordable rental housing collaborations with groups like Community Mental Health, the Cerebral Palsy Association and Humber Valley Senior Citizens and underscored the point that partnerships are critical to the success of these projects.
Mr. Power noted the comparisons in affordable housing development policies and processes between New Brunswick and Newfoundland - in Newfoundland the forgivable loan amount is $100,000 per affordable housing unit built and in New Brunswick, that amount is $30,000. It was acknowledged that with a given program budget, the higher the capital grant the lower the number of units that can be produced; hence there are trade-offs.
Client Testimonials - The audience heard testimonials from affordable housing rental and homeowner clients who shared personal accounts of the importance in having a place to call their own. The two women spoke on the positive impact of good social housing on their lives in terms of increased confidence, pride and dignity. The rental unit client appreciated her home for many reasons, including the chance to socialize with others in her building and to learn basic household management skills like cooking and cleaning which have helped other residents as well. The client's stress is now reduced because she has money to live a `more normal life` and doesn't have to rely on services like the Community Kitchen. The client did express her frustration with the Province's Economic Unit Policy explaining that it inhibited low income people's ability to save money by living together.
Mike O'Brien, Councillor and Chairperson of the Fredericton Ad Hoc Affordable Housing Committee gave his perspective on the importance of an adequate supply of affordable housing in the Fredericton area. He noted that this issue not only affects residents with addiction and mental health illnesses, but also challenges lower income working families especially, single mothers and their children. He emphasized our collective responsibility to help those in need. Councillor O'Brien outlined the municipality`s support for affordable housing development through initiatives such as the City of Fredericton`s surplus land sales discount policy, the increased flexibility within the municipal plan with respect to affordable housing development, the partnerships leveraged through the City's Affordable Housing Ad Hoc Committee and the recent launch of the Affordable Housing page on the City's website.
James Hughes, Deputy Minister, NB Department of Social Development highlighted the number of new units constructed under Phase Three of the Affordable Housing Programs. Comparing this number to statistics from previous years, he indicated this would be a banner year for projects and new units created throughout the Province. He re-iterated Minister Schryer's comments on the need for active public engagement in his department's Poverty Reduction Strategy and encouraged members of the audience to participate in the upcoming public consultation sessions to find the solutions we need.
Anthony Knight, Executive Director, Fredericton Chamber of Commerce shared labour market information related to the Fredericton region. He noted the largest segment of the population (52%) are citizens between the ages of 24-52 years of age and provided information on average incomes and the number of single parent families living in the area. Mr. Knight linked his demographic data to the affordability of housing or lack thereof as it related to the salary ranges for these populations. He stressed the importance of having sufficient housing that is affordable across all income ranges. This is key in order to attract and accommodate the necessary workforce for Fredericton's economy.
Alex Arsenau, Executive Director, NB Non-Profit Housing Association was the final speaker for the day's session and summarized the important messages articulated by the previous presenters. He also took the opportunity to encourage the City to put greater action behind its words to advance more affordable housing development.
A REVIEW OF THE SESSION
Mr. Paynter led the audience in an exercise to glean ideas from the information presented that could become part of an affordable housing action plan. Here is some of the feedback:
City
- Encourage more City involvement through provision of financing, enhanced political will to drive the issue, changing the mindset of developers and other stakeholders, streamlining the application process, and showing flexibility around development fees
- Increase the resources needed for enhancing public awareness of the issues
- Revisit the City's 12.5% land discount policy; is it enough considering the poor uptake demonstrated to date. Could the City purchase & resell property? An example of where this has happened is the City of Dieppe
- Reduce NIMBY by providing good examples/models and increase education and promotion
Province
- Use more developers like Ed Power to help promote affordable housing development by the private developer
- Provide enhanced consulting assistance for clients through the Affordable Housing Funding Programs
- Help Non-Profit Agencies increase their viability by Identifying the Market; Developing Partnerships; Imparting Expertise, and Building the 'team'.
- Consider timing in the context of the construction season and promotion
- Improve the operational function of subsidized housing by:
o providing dispute resolution mechanisms/training to mixed projects
o enhancing property management
o enhancing landlord Involvement in the resident selection process
o bridging the gap between the Government and the Private Sector
o and consider the strategies to address special needs of subsidized housing residents - providing supportive housing
- Increase the resources needed for enhancing public awareness of the issues
- Reduce NIMBY by providing good examples/models and increase education and promotion
- Work on Sustainability related to:
- Long-term Programs
- Marketing and Awareness
- Simplifying the development process and developing the necessary partnerships - Unite government/non profit groups/private sector to convene process/road map
- Continuous affordable housing development irrespective of the Economic Situation
- Having the developer involved on a long-term basis
- Making criteria work for the private sector developers through ongoing dialogue in program development.
- Anticipating next phase of federal funding
- Eliminating/reducing non-owner occupied property tax
- Do we need rent controls in the province?
- Revisiting the Department of Social Development's "Economic Unit" Policy
- Revisiting Rooming House Regulations, particularly as they relate to evictions.
- Providing more help for Transition Homes
- Helping people make transition along the Housing Continuum
- Determining specific needs of clients so they are placed appropriately into their housing unit
NEXT STEPS CONSIDERED
Engage the Developers using both the targeted and shotgun approaches
- Obtain the private developers' perspectives on the issues
- Brainstorm for solutions/costs/revenues/profits
Encourage the demonstration of more political will & drive from the top down
- Articulate the costs of doing nothing
- Emphasize the cost effectiveness of affordable housing as compared to other responses such as shelters, emergency services, jails, prisons
- Introduce measures of accountability
ACTION ITEMS GOING FORWARD
Convene Developer Meeting
Anthony Knight (Chamber of Commerce) in concert with the Homebuilders' Association will host a meeting with local developers and other key players before Christmas to examine their role in affordable housing and what more can be done to encourage their involvement. It is anticipated that the meeting will be an open discussion on the lack of take-up, program parameters and delivery mechanisms.
Develop a Social Marketing Campaign
Fiona Williams (Community Planning Group on Homelessness) agreed to take the lead in developing a social marketing campaign with others to create awareness tools to affect an attitudinal change and to make the argument for affordable housing. This public education and promotion piece could include role models, survey research and audio visual techniques and productions.
In addition to the above, several members of the audience supported the notion that the municipal and provincial governments convey the importance of affordable housing respectively through the Mayor's Vision for the City and the Province's Self-Sufficiency Agenda.
EVALUATION OF THE SESSION
The following is an analysis of the responses from the Evaluations completed:
- The overwhelming majority (90%) of participants found the session to be very useful or useful.
- Most participants indicated they were informed about the event through email/brochure and the Affordable Housing Ad Hoc Committee.
- When asked what their organization has to contribute to the development of affordable housing, most indicated 'in-kind services'. This response was followed by fund raising, cash and land or buildings contribution in that order.
- The majority of organizations planning to develop affordable housing anticipate the completion of their projects in less than three years.
- When asked if the session fulfilled their need for information on the subject within the time available, 85% of the participants answered yes to the question. One respondent added that the session could have been longer.
- 56% of the participants indicated the guest speaker(s) were excellent; 43% indicated they were very good.
- When asked what was the most important piece of information learned from the session, the following comments were offered:
- "It takes many groups to provide this valuable service"
- "A lot of good will and coordination is needed; there is a need to increase cooperation between government, non-profit organizations and developers."
- "Ed Power provided useful information, especially about best practices/models being used in Newfoundland"
- ``The stats from the Chamber were very good".
- "This will enable our organization to develop contacts and get the City more on board with our mission."
- "It takes an engaged community to house it citizens."
- Gained Insight into "how the private sector views development of affordable housing units."
Additional comments from the evaluations:
- "Hoping to see some deliverables from the session because of the engagement and energy of this group."
- "Good information - next steps: take action"
- "It would be interesting to have a slide show and presentation of Fredericton's various existing affordable housing units, what is good/not preferable about each of them re:integrating into the community, not 'looking like' lower income housing, etc….This would all show the current state and the 'vision'."
- "It would have been beneficial for the Minister and Deputy Minister to hear Ed Power's presentation."
- "Strategic meetings need to take place with hand selected developers and a small group of knowledgeable people to process the map it would take to get a project off the ground."
