New affordable housing builds could get up to $340K under new grant program coming to Brampton

Brampton could start offering builders up to $340,000 in grants to attract more affordable housing units to the city, but the money could come with some strings attached.

Next week the Planning and Development Committee will hear updates on Brampton’s new affordable housing strategy which aims “to incentivize and attract various forms of new affordable housing to the city.”

Part of the new plan includes making grants available to builders, offsetting the cost of housing projects and increasing the city’s supply of affordable units.

A report shows the amount of funding builders could qualify for is on a sliding scale with a maximum grant of $340,000. The project must have a minimum of 10 per cent affordable units, and those units will stay affordable for at least 25 years.

What counts as an affordable housing unit is set by the province. For rentals, a unit must be less than the average market rent “and what is affordable to the 60th percentile household,” while owned properties are “lesser of what is considered affordable for the 60th percentile household in Brampton and 90 (per cent) of the average purchase price.”

The new Community Improvement Plan Area for Affordable Housing would have a budget of $6 million for 2024 with approximately $5 million set aside for the grant program, the report reads.

If approved by Brampton City Council, the new CIP Affordable Housing initiatives could go live by September 2024.

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Results of the program would be monitored on an ongoing basis to track the city’s progress including the number of
applications received and new affordable units.

The city is also looking at making rebates and grants available to residents who want to build a garden suite, but that funding would not be locked behind affordability requirements under the new program.

Brampton is expected to see more than 52,520 new households built with 147,860 new residents by 2031, according to an earlier report to council with growth continuing to 195,697 residents and 76,693 new homes by 2041.

Housing plans in Brampton and across Ontario have seen major shake-up with Ontario’s Bill 185 ditching a five-year phase-in of development charges to fast-track housing builds, leaving municipalities and taxpayers to pick up the tab.

Brampton’s current development charge bylaw is set to expire in August with a rate of $53,803 for a single or semi-detached home. That charge is expected to increase some 30 per cent to $70,000.

The report on Brampton’s CIP Affordable Housing strategy will go to committee next week before being sent to Brampton City Council for approval.