476 vacant affordable housing units to get needed repairs in Hamilton

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Published April 20, 2023 at 2:40 pm

Repairs and renovations for 476 vacant affordable housing units in Hamilton should start soon thanks to some much-needed funding.

Earlier this year, Ward 3 Councillor Nrinder Nann said she discovered the that 476 units were vacant.  The units are vacant because they need repairs and renovation, Nann said during the General Issues Committee meeting on April 19.

This is at a time when the affordable housing waitlist, as of Dec. 31, 2022, was at 6,110.

Nann said she and Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson kept asking the CityHousing Hamilton board about vacancies last term. Now as the president of the board, Nann brought a motion to the General Issues Committee.

An estimated $5.7 million is needed to repair the units, and staff worked to find the funds from various sources including dividends from Hamilton Utilities Corporation and Alectra, reserve funds, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation funds and the Hamilton Future Fund.

The funding allocation will have a “minimal impact” on the tax levy, said Nann.

The motion was passed unanimously and it is hoped the 476 units will be back online for tenancy in December 2024 at the latest.

“This will house 800-1,100 people,” Nann said in a tweet.

She added the staff is working to ensure backlogs in repairs don’t exist in the future.

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