Posts Tagged ‘Affordable’

Moishe Alexander Applauds New Affordable Housing in King City

Affordable Housing, Financing, Ontario | Posted by admin
Jun 15 2010

Ground was broken today for 39 new affordable housing rental units for seniors living on low income in the Township of King. The project received $4.7 million in funding from the federal and provincial governments. Moishe Alexander is very please by this turn of events.

The Honourable Consiglio Di Nino, Senator for Ontario, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Dr. Helena Jaczek, Member of Provincial Parliament for Oak Ridges – Markham, on behalf of Jim Bradley, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Bill Fisch, York Region Chairman and CEO, along with Margaret Black, Mayor, Township of King, made the announcement.

“Through the second year of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada remains committed to helping seniors in Ontario and throughout the country during these tough economic times,” said Senator Di Nino. “Projects like this one are providing safe, affordable housing to many residents in this community while creating jobs and stimulating our economy.”

“The McGuinty government is committed to meeting the housing needs of the people in our communities that need it the most,” said MPP Dr. Helena Jaczek. “This 39 unit expansion will improve the lives of the seniors living in Kingview Court, it will generate new jobs and it will also support local businesses in King City.”

“Through the expansion of Kingview Court, York Region will continue to fulfil the goal of providing housing services that benefit our residents,” said York Region Chairman and CEO Bill Fisch. “The upgrades to the building will meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, maintaining York Region’s plan to build caring and safe communities for our residents and growing for a sustainable future.”

“By building on existing resources at Kingview Court in the Township of King, more residents will be able to live in and enjoy their community longer,” said Township of King Mayor Margaret Black. “This exciting development not only will create greater access to affordable housing, it will provide an opportunity to improve current units through renovations, upgrades and the installation of an elevator for increased accessibility.”

The 39 unit expansion project at 90 Dew Street received $4.7 million in funding. The federal and provincial funding is complemented by $2.9 million in municipal financial incentives.

The Government of Canada wants to ensure that Canadians on fixed incomes can live with independence and dignity and remain in their communities, close to family and friends. Canada’s Economic Action Plan provides $400 million, over two years, to build new rental housing for low-income seniors. Overall, the Economic Action Plan includes $2 billion for new and existing social housing, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on the Government of Canada’s commitment in 2008 of more than $1.9 billion, over five years, to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless.

In 2009, Ontario allocated a combined federal and provincial investment of $704 million for the renovation of social housing, and $540 million for the creation of new affordable housing. This investment is part of the Open Ontario plan, and will generate an estimated 23,000 jobs over the course of the program, while strengthening local economies across the province. To date, Ontario has approved more than $465 million for construction-ready projects, which will provide affordable housing for low-income families, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities, and $351.9 million for repairs benefiting some 148,000 social housing units. To find out more about affordable housing in Ontario, visit www.ontario.ca/housing.

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Moishe Alexander Celebrate New Affordable Housing in St. Thomas

Affordable Housing, Community Service, Ontario | Posted by admin
Jun 15 2010

Moishe Alexander presents to Housing Affordability readers: The Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and the City of St. Thomas celebrated the official opening of 12 affordable rental units. The two six-unit affordable housing projects are supported by $924,000 in funding through the Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program.

Joe Preston, Member of Parliament for Elgin – Middlesex – London, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and Steve Peters, Member of Provincial Parliament for Elgin – Middlesex – London, along with Acting Mayor Tom Johnston, on behalf of St. Thomas Mayor Cliff Barwick made the announcement.

“Locally, this achievement gives a hand-up to individuals and families who need safe, affordable housing that meets their needs,” said MP Preston. “Our government is investing in this project to get the economy moving, creating immediate jobs and economic stimulus for the community.”

“These new homes are changing the lives of dozen families in St. Thomas,” said MPP Peters. “By building more affordable rental units, we are ensuring people in need have a safe place to call their own.”

“There continues to be a great demand for affordable housing in our community. With the co-operation of the Federal and Provincial governments we can see these needs being met,” said Mayor Cliff Barwick. “These buildings are assets for our community, and we appreciate the investment by Walter Ostojic and Sons and Collier Homes Inc., in developing additional housing units.”

Today’s grand opening ceremonies recognized two affordable housing projects funded through the two-year extension of the Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program:

* Funding of $444,000 for a six-unit affordable housing project for low-income households at 5 Park Avenue.
* Funding of $480,000 for a six-unit affordable housing project for low-income households at 89½ Fairview Avenue.

The federal and provincial funding for both projects is complemented by more than $179,000 in municipal financial incentives.

The Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement comprises a commitment of $301 million from each of the two senior levels of government. In total, the federal, provincial and municipal governments will invest at least $734 million in the program, which will provide affordable housing for up to 20,000 households in Ontario.

In 2008, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion over two years in new and existing social housing and up to another $2 billion in loans municipalities for housing-related infrastructure. Combined for Ontario, this means a further $1.2 billion joint investment under the amended Canada – Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment.

Moishe Alexander presents YouTube video on St. Thomas

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Canadian housing market

Affordable Housing, Financing, Ontario | Posted by admin
Feb 22 2010

The former head of the Bank of Canada has jumped into the debate over the housing market, warning that prices have reached a point where they are almost unsustainable.

“One would have to say that the relation of house prices to Canadians’ income is right at the high end of what one would think would likely be sustainable over time,” David Dodge told Business News Network on Wednesday.

Mr. Dodge, the central bank chief from 2001 to 2008, said the remedy is not necessarily higher interest rates. Rather, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. should start scrutinizing more closely the kind of mortgages that it insures.

“That’s not to say the Bank [of Canada] ought to somehow raise interest rates really quickly, but it does say that [CMHC] should be very careful about the terms and conditions on which they are giving mortgage insurance,” he said.

As part of Ottawa’s policy to encourage home ownership among Canadians, the CMHC provides insurance for higher-risk home buyers such as those who are unable to make a 20% down payment, enabling people who would not otherwise be able to get a mortgage to enter the market.

The CMHC also guarantees billions of dollars of mortgages that are converted into Canada mortgage bonds and sold to investors.

Mr. Dodge said we’re “getting to a stage where one begins to get quite nervous” about the ability of some consumers to pay off their mortgages if rates rise. He notes that it is “clearly appropriate” to have very low interest rates because of the economic recovery and where rates stand in the rest of the world. He said that is why it’s more relevant to look at the “terms and conditions” of mortgages to deal with this issue.

The comments come less than a week after Jim Flaherty, the finance minister, said there is no compelling evidence of a housing bubble in Canada.

With residential real estate prices across the country close to record highs, many observers have expressed concern about the state of the market particularly with the run up that took place in the months since the financial crisis.

The concern is that when interest rates rise starting later this year many Canadians could find themselves struggling to make their payments. And if the economy reverses course at the same time – as some economists predict – the situation would be exacerbated, with serious negative implications for the housing market.

Moody’s warned last month that expanding consumer debt levels could leave Canada in a worse position than the United States in the next few years if current trends continue.

“We believe the housing market is the principal driver of this expansion,” said the report by Peter Routledge, senior vice president at the rating agency. “We have the uneasy sense that we have seen this movie before…. As witnessed in the United States, this movie does not end well.”

Many blame the meltdown south of the border on the availability of cheap credit even to people with no chance of meeting their obligations.

While nothing in Canada compares with the subprime market in the United States, experts say that the CMHC mortgage insurance program enables lenders to offer cheaper mortgages than they could otherwise to a wider range of borrowers.

At the same time, the CMHC’s mortgage bond progra – the underlying loans are also guaranteed by the agency – creates incentive for banks and other lenders to sell more mortgages by providing access to hundreds of billions of dollars of cheap funding.

The basic idea of making it easier for people to buy homes was a noble one but instead the Crown corporation’s programs have had the opposite effect of making houses less affordable.

And at the end of the day taxpayers are left holding the risk because CMHC mortgage insurance is effectively guaranteed by the federal government.

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/economy/story.html?id=2547222#ixzz0gIYII5tg
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