Public housing to expand in city
55 private apartment units converted for assistance program
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Friday, June 19, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Fifty-five private sector apartment units in Yellowknife will be converted to public housing as part of a joint venture between NWT Housing Corporation and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.
The program seeks to convert 75 units, including 10 each in Inuvik and Hay River, to help alleviate the number of people on income assistance and housing wait lists. Currently Housing corp.'s public housing wait list is just shy of 200 people.
Housing corp. spokesperson Cara Bryant told Yellowknifer the company will lease the units from the private sector.
"As these clients were previously accessing the income assistance rental allowance over a longer term, they are more appropriately served under the public housing program," she said. "It is anticipated (they) will experience reduced rent and easier transition to the workforce because of (housing corp.'s) graduated rent to income sale."
The public housing program provides tenants with stable, longer-term housing supports.
Bryant added new policy changes made by private landlords mean those on income assistance face more of a challenge accessing private rentals.
ECE spokesperson Jacqueline McKinnon said in February the government put out an expression of interest inviting private rental companies to participate in the program and they are now in the transition process. While she could not name any company specifically, she said the process will not affect regular building renters.
"We're transitioning income assistance clients from existing apartments to other existing apartments," she said. "So there will always be the same number of apartments available."
McKinnon said some tenants will remain in the units they are currently staying in, while others will have to move but final numbers on what the ratio will be are not available.
"Some of the apartments that people were already living in were automatically shifted through this program to a public housing unit … (others) will be moving," she explained.
Funding for the transition will be provided by ECE, which has committed $1.5 million to the project. Under the program, the housing authority will pay the full rent, while the client is charged a reduced rate.
Calls to Northern Properties REIT and Midwest Properties were not returned by press time.
