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Dufferin County unveils new affordable housing program

March 16, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Jasen Obermeyer

Dufferin County has unveiled its latest social housing project on Lawrence Avenue in Orangeville, helping to enhance affordable housing in the County.

The new housing’s address is 54 Lawrence Avenue, on five acres beside the County’s 30-unit apartment building at 40 Lawrence Avenue. It will have 24 townhouses; seven with one bed, seven with two beds, six with three and four with four beds. Seven of the housing units will be for seniors, the rest for individuals or families, along with one parking spot per unit.

In a presentation to residents of the 40 Lawrence Avenue housing unit and other residents in the area, it was revealed there will be three separate units: one unit parallel to Lawrence Avenue, one parallel to Cedar Drive, and the other parallel to Park Lane. The units will be built to a similar design as 40 Lawrence Avenue.

Total cost of the new housing is projected at $7.5 million to $7.8 million, of which $2 million will be received in grants from the provincial and federal governments. The local Dickinson + Hicks architect will design the units.

Construction is set to begin this June, and the first two units are expected to be completed either the end of the year, or in January 2018. The third unit will be completed in summer 2019, as a result of the funding being phased in.

Mike Giles, Dufferin’s chief building official, says that as he’s grown up in the County, his staff takes great care and pride in what they build. “We have some buildings that are 30, 35 years old and are just gorgeous.”

Keith Palmer, Dufferin’s director of community services, says when people hear about social housing they think of ghettos, but the worst-case scenario doesn’t exist in Dufferin County, because they believe in a high standard for quality of living. “No graffiti, no police, no broken windows, no barbed wires.”

He says affordable housing covers everyone, and they can’t ignore a particular group, as Dufferin County’s average price for a new homes is around $400,000, but wages for those buying or wanting to buy aren’t going up.

The average social housing unit in Dufferin County costs $930 a month. There are currently 500 applicants (not individuals) on a waiting list. The average wait time on a waiting list is three to seven years, but the new housing can help shorten it for some.

Mr. Palmer says those in the older scattered units they plan to sell in Orangeville will be the first ones moved into the new ones, and then they look at who is first on the waiting list, and who can be eligible to stay in the units.

“The minute we get our occupancy permits, we move people in.”

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