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To / Destinataire
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Mayor and Members of
Council/Maire et Membres du Conseil
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File/N° de fichier:
ACS2010-COS-CSS-0004
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From / Expéditeur
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Janice Burelle, Manager, Housing
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Subject / Objet
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Mise à jour sur le volet Accédants à la propriété
du Programme Canada-Ontario de logement abordable – IDA
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Date: February 23, 2010
le 23 fevrier 2010
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Purpose
The purpose of
this report is to provide an update on the status of the Homeownership
component of the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program (AHP).
Background
The
Homeownership component of the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program (AHP) was developed to assist low to moderate income
rental households to purchase affordable homes by providing down payment
assistance in the form of a forgivable loan. The 2009 Extension to the Canada Ontario
Affordable Housing Program which provided $540 million in funding available
over 2009/2010 across Ontario for the creation of new affordable housing units
included funding for an extension to the Homeownership Downpayment Assistance
Program which was also part of the original Wave 1 AHP
funding. Staff launched the program for Ottawa
in 2008 as part of the 2006 Housing Delivery Plan and has provided
approximately 125 households with down payment assistance to date.
In
2007, the AHP guidelines provided
for down payment assistance not exceeding 5% of the purchase price of a home or
$9,700, whichever was lower. In addition
the maximum purchase price of a unit could not exceed the maximum price
affordable to households at the 60th income percentile
as established by Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Under these
guidelines, the City of Ottawa
provided 89 households with down payment assistance from August 14, 2008 to March 31, 2009. The average annual household income for
households receiving down payment assistance in 2008/9 was $44,000 with an
average amount of down payment assistance was $9,227 allowing for an average
purchase price of $210,202.46, which corresponded closely with the 40th
Income Percentile target for affordable homeownership in the Official Plan.
The Homeownership
program under the 2009 AHP
Extension differs from the previous program in that homes eligible under this
wave of the AHP must be new
construction units, including conversions from non-residential use that qualify
for Tarion’s new home warranty whereas the previous program permitted resale
homes. The total amount of down payment
assistance has been increased up to 10% of the sum of purchase prices for all
units acquired by eligible purchasers (other than units acquired from Habitat
for Humanity affiliates for which maximum down payment assistance of $50,000
per eligible household). Also, the funding is provided on receipt of Purchase
and Sale Agreements from qualifying households on a “first come first served”
basis until all funding is exhausted, or the deadline of March 31, 2011 is reached. This meant that Ontario
municipalities would not be able to determine how many households would receive
assistance for 2009/10. As a result, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing announced that the 2009 funding for this program was depleted on November 16, 2009. During this second wave of funding, Ottawa received a total
of $423,500 in down payment assistance for 14 households.
According
to the AHP Guidelines, Service
Managers are permitted to partner with private or non-profit homeownership
developers to deliver the program, however, the time limits under the 2009 AHP Extension and the first come first serve
allocation model prohibited the development of such partnerships from being
formed. Due to concerns about the quick depletion of funds in 2009, the lack of
a notional allocation and the rising price of new homes, the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs and Housing on January 29th 2010, provided the following
modifications to the program, which will commence on April 1st 2010:
(1)
Resale Units will be included as an eligible unit
type; and
(2)
A notional funding allocation model will be
implemented.
In 2009, under the
first come first served allocation model, the City received over 150
applications from households requesting down payment assistance under the
program, including three requests from Habitat for Humanity but was only able
to provide 14 households with down payment assistance. MMAH provided an
additional $400,000 from unused Wave I funds to allow another 15 qualifying
households to receive down payment assistance under the 2009 Extension.
Allocations for 2010
Based on the
current number of pending applications, staff estimates that down payment
assistance can be provided to approximately 100 households in the City starting
April 1st, when the Province starts the program, throughout
2010. Staffing and Legal costs related to
administering this stream of the AHP
are expected to be approximately $100,000 (approximately $800 per household)
and are available from funds provided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing under the Canada Ontario Affordable Housing Program. In addition,
staff is working toward building partnerships with both private and non-profit
housing developers to deliver the program and provide stable affordable
homeownership opportunities to households under the 40th Income
percentile in 2011.
Original
signed by Janice Burelle
Janice Burelle,
Manager, Housing
c.c. City Manager
Deputy City
Manager, City Operations
General Manager,
Community & Social Services Department
Manager Social Housing
and Shelter Management
