Affordable Housing Strategy

As part of the Affordable Housing Strategy, the City of St. John's is conducting a 2023 Housing Needs Assessment. An updated Housing Needs Assessment will enable the City and stakeholders to look at current and projected housing supply and demand over the entire housing continuum.

As part of this study, we're asking for your participation in a Public Survey.

Take the Public Survey and tell us about the needs of your household and how your current housing is or isn’t meeting your needs.

The survey takes approximately 10 minutes and is completely anonymous.

The survey will close on Sunday, April 30th.

To take the survey visit: https://www.surveymonkey.ca/r/StJohnsHNA

To receive further updates on this study, please follow our Housing Needs Assessment page.

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With the recent announcement of Federal and Provincial funding for affordable housing, it’s a good time to highlight some ways the City of St. John’s can support affordable housing developments.

Recognizing the need for increased affordable housing supply in St. John’s, the City offers the following supports:

• We exempt all registered not-for-profits from municipal fees, including applicable development and permit fees
• Certain properties may be exempted from paying property tax, including:
  • Properties owned and occupied by a charitable organization or institution which is so registered under the Income Tax Act (Canada)
  • Properties that are part of a low rental housing project as defined in the National Housing Act (Canada). In this case, the property must be federally funded and 100% of the development must be considered “affordable housing.”
• We may be able to offer relaxed parking requirements.
• Development applications with a commitment to providing affordable housing may be reasonably prioritized with improved processing times where possible.

Civic Housing Action Fund

In addition to these supports, the City of St. John’s can also make contributions to affordable housing developments through the Civic Housing Action Fund (CHAF). The CHAF is intended for specific development projects and may be used for:

• Leveraging additional funds for new affordable housing developments (e.g., Province’s Affordable Housing Program, Rapid Housing Initiative, National Housing Co-Investment Fund, etc.)
• Pre-development work on City-owned land selected for affordable housing development led by community partners;
• City’s housing stock to increase affordability and/or meet market demand (e.g., unit conversions, accessibility retrofits, energy retrofits, etc).

All money allocated to the Civic Housing Action Fund will be used for the pre-development, development, and preservation of specific affordable housing projects.

To learn more, please contact the City’s Affordable Housing & Development Facilitator at affordablehousing@stjohns.ca or (709) 570-2096.

The City of St. John’s Housing Division recently engaged with landlords and property managers to build knowledge around the provision of affordable housing in St. John’s, and to share supports and resources related to affordable housing projects.

A landlord survey was conducted online from May 9 to June 3, to better understand the impacts of recent changes in the rental properties market. The What We Heard document will be presented to City Council today, see item 14.5.

The survey received 249 responses with a 64% completion rate. The survey was promoted via a Public Service Announcement, the City website, social media, community partner networks, and during a landlord engagement event on May 25.

Highlights of the survey results:

• Most landlords in St. John’s operate on a small scale, holding 1-5 units
• Of the 249 respondents, only 3 indicated operating accessible units, highlighting a key need
• The greatest impact of the pandemic is loss of rental income and increased rental arrears
• Landlords indicated damages and poor support processes as common challenges
• 57% of landlords are dissatisfied with recent changes to the Residential Tenancies Act
• 47% of respondents are interested in or able to provide affordable housing, however, lack of security in recouping costs of missed rent, damages, is cited as a significant barrier
• Cost of living increases is perceived as a major barrier to providing affordable rentals
• Landlord mitigation funds and tax incentives are cited as key incentives

Findings from the landlord survey will be presented to the Affordable Housing Working Group and used to inform working group initiatives and advocacy to increase the feasibility of affordable market rentals.

During the life of this strategy, various projects will be pursued to achieve the goals outlined. To stay up to date, and provide feedback on projects as they are in planning mode, check out the project pages below.

28 Eric Street - updated May 3, 2021

The 10-Year City of St. John’s Affordable Housing Strategy was approved by Council on Nov. 19, 2018. This strategy is a ten-year plan that continues and expands from the original 2014 Affordable Housing Business Plan’s mandate that ‘Housing is a human right. All people need and deserve a home in which they can afford to live, and the City should work to ensure such housing opportunities exist.’

Affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues nationally. People across the income spectrum find it increasingly difficult to secure suitable, adequate and affordable housing. Through this new strategy, the City will leverage its own municipal resources to support and compliment solutions of other levels of governments. By working collaboratively with our government partners, each unlocking unique available resources, we will maximize impact and multiply our efforts.

To fully address St. John’s housing needs, the new strategy has been developed with the vision of looking internally while working in-step with partners, stakeholders and residents to create and maintain safe, suitable, and affordable housing throughout the city. The City realizes the importance of working with the private sector to build the affordable housing inventory, and the new strategy will continue to create opportunities that encourage investment and inspire innovation.

The strategy recognizes that households have different housing needs based on size, employment, ability, health, income, stage in life, and a host of other factors. Affordable housing stock is about creating a range of housing choices.

The new City of St. John’s Affordable Housing Strategy is built on a strong foundation of public engagement and research on current local housing situation and emerging trends and it focuses on six strategic directions lined with actions:

· Unlocking Resources

· Building Homes

· Leading Innovation

· Revitalizing Policy

· Cultivating Partnership

· Informing Action

Guided by this new strategy, and with the continued support of the Affordable Housing Working Group, the City of St. John’s will continue to be a leader in affordable housing solutions and build strong partnerships to produce, protect and promote affordable housing for the people of St. John’s. We all have a role to play in helping our communities thrive.

The City of St. John’s released a What we Heard document on January 18, 2018, following a public engagement process which took place between May and June 2017, and was designed to help inform the next 10 year Affordable Housing Strategy.

The City’s first Affordable Housing Business Plan (AHBP), Creating Opportunities, Housing Our Community, was a 4 year plan which concluded in 2017.

A number of themes emerged throughout the City’s engagement process, including:

• Demographic realities

• Housing needs

• The importance of accessibility

• Energy efficiency as a function of affordability

• Transportation costs

• Partnerships

The information obtained through the consultation process will be used to help inform the new 10 Year Affordable Housing Strategy. The strategy is being developed in consultation the Affordable Housing Working Group. It will presented to Council and shared with the public for feedback before being officially adopted.