Housing and Community Development Minister announces more affordable housing and the creation of a tax credit to support private-sector rental housing construction: Left to Right: Maurice Therrion, Chair, Board of Directors for Sara Riel Inc., Mel Boisvert, former Co-chair of the Provincial Rental Housing Supply Roundtable, Kerri Irvin-Ross, Manitoba Minister of Housing and Community Development and Clark Brownlee of the Winnipeg Right to Housing Coalition
April 19, 2013
More Units, New Incentives to be Provides for Private-sector Rental Housing Construction
“Our government is building Manitoba, by investing in critical infrastructure to ensure families have the housing, schools, hospitals and roads they need, and are protected against the threat of more frequent flooding. In the face of a continued uncertain global economic outlook, our government is offering the certainty of investing in infrastructure to help Manitoba’s economy continue to grow.”
HOMEWorks! is Manitoba’s long-term housing strategy. Under this strategy, the province, through Manitoba Housing, continues to make significant investments in social and affordable housing, said Irvin-Ross.
BUDGET 2013: BETTER, AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING OPTIONS FOR FAMILIES: IRVIN-ROSS
– – –More Units, New Incentives to be Provides for Private-sector Rental Housing Construction
Manitobans will have better access to good housing with the creation of a new tax credit to support private-sector rental housing construction and new investments by the provincial government to build 1,000 new rental housing units, Housing and Community Development Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross announced today.
“Every Manitoban should have access to a good, affordable home to build a life for their family, which is all that much more important with so much uncertainty in the economy,” Irvin-Ross said. “That’s why we’re taking new steps to give more families access to better housing and it’s why we’re providing new incentives to private-sector developers to help build even more options for Manitobans.”
Budget 2013 includes a plan to build 1,000 new rental housing units over the next three years including 500 affordable housing units and 500 social housing units, Irvin-Ross said. These new units will add to the Manitoba government’s HOMEWorks! program already underway to develop 3,000 new affordable and social housing units by 2014.
To encourage the construction of more apartments in the private sector, Budget 2013 also creates a new Residential Rental Housing Investment Tax Credit, which will provide an eight per cent credit on construction costs for private developers to build new rental housing with affordable units.
“With more people than ever before calling Manitoba home, there is a clear need for more rental housing, and this new rental housing tax credit will help encourage more developers to build better housing options for families in Winnipeg and across the province,” said Mel Boisvert of the Government Relations Committee of the Winnipeg Realtors Association.
Over the next three years, the Manitoba government will also invest $100 million annually to restore and redevelop housing units in its portfolio, the minister said. An additional $34 million will be dedicated annually to repair existing stock and provide quality home environments for tenants, she added.
These investments to build more affordable housing are in addition to increased benefits for employment income assistance recipients and other low-income Manitobans announced in Budget 2013 through an annual increase of $6.3 million in RentAid shelter benefits.
Better housing is a part of the Manitoba Building and Renewal Plan, which will also help build the province’s critical infrastructure priorities including flood protection, roads, schools and health centres, Irvin-Ross said.“Every Manitoban should have access to a good, affordable home to build a life for their family, which is all that much more important with so much uncertainty in the economy,” Irvin-Ross said. “That’s why we’re taking new steps to give more families access to better housing and it’s why we’re providing new incentives to private-sector developers to help build even more options for Manitobans.”
Budget 2013 includes a plan to build 1,000 new rental housing units over the next three years including 500 affordable housing units and 500 social housing units, Irvin-Ross said. These new units will add to the Manitoba government’s HOMEWorks! program already underway to develop 3,000 new affordable and social housing units by 2014.
To encourage the construction of more apartments in the private sector, Budget 2013 also creates a new Residential Rental Housing Investment Tax Credit, which will provide an eight per cent credit on construction costs for private developers to build new rental housing with affordable units.
“With more people than ever before calling Manitoba home, there is a clear need for more rental housing, and this new rental housing tax credit will help encourage more developers to build better housing options for families in Winnipeg and across the province,” said Mel Boisvert of the Government Relations Committee of the Winnipeg Realtors Association.
Over the next three years, the Manitoba government will also invest $100 million annually to restore and redevelop housing units in its portfolio, the minister said. An additional $34 million will be dedicated annually to repair existing stock and provide quality home environments for tenants, she added.
These investments to build more affordable housing are in addition to increased benefits for employment income assistance recipients and other low-income Manitobans announced in Budget 2013 through an annual increase of $6.3 million in RentAid shelter benefits.
“Our government is building Manitoba, by investing in critical infrastructure to ensure families have the housing, schools, hospitals and roads they need, and are protected against the threat of more frequent flooding. In the face of a continued uncertain global economic outlook, our government is offering the certainty of investing in infrastructure to help Manitoba’s economy continue to grow.”
HOMEWorks! is Manitoba’s long-term housing strategy. Under this strategy, the province, through Manitoba Housing, continues to make significant investments in social and affordable housing, said Irvin-Ross.
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