Non-profit tries to meet housing needs in the Spryfield area
About one-third of the units in a new 48-unit residential area announced by the Nova Scotia government earlier this week will be highly affordable.
The Spryfield Social Enterprise and Affordable Housing Society was one of three recipients in the Halifax Regional Municipality of unused county land announced on Monday as part of a program aimed at encouraging housing construction.
The development, the largest of the three projects in the Halifax region, will include 15 units that are considered highly affordable because rents will be at least 80 percent below the market rate in the region.
The building will include a number of fully accessible units as well as commercial space on up to four acres of land along Herring Cove Road near the community of Herring Cove.
Bruce Holland, one of the directors of the society, said the society could make the project work because they get the land for a nominal fee and because they don’t have to make a profit.
“We just want to cover the costs associated with building the project and support the mortgage on the building and pay the annual running costs,” he said.
For many years, the Spryfield area has been considered an affordable option for those on a fixed income or trying to buy their first home. But Holland said this is changing, as in other places, with demand outpacing supply and some homes selling for double what they did a few years ago.
“It’s dramatic and it makes it difficult for people on fixed incomes or low incomes to find housing.”
Holland and fellow director Marshall Smith have ties to Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative Party, but Holland, who is also a former Liberal MLA, said the association’s application was successful not because of anyone’s connections to the government, but because of the merits of the proposal.
“I have not called anyone directly to make this happen. The need is there and the strength of our application is there.”
A spokesman for the county government said in a statement that while members of the development team were identified as part of their submission, the recommendation department staff who went to Housing Secretary John Lohr only identified the applicant as a non-profit with a good standing with the Registry. of common stocks.
While the land given to society has room for further development, Holland said the focus is now on the current project. He said the association hopes to break ground within six months and the project will be completed 18 months after that.
MORE TOP STORIES
