South Delta is set to receive more than $36 million in provincial funding to build 360 units of affordable housing.
The province announced Tuesday that $5.4 million is slated for the Affordable Housing Society to build 54 homes for families and seniors in Ladner, $14.6 million to the Red Door Housing Society to build 146 homes in Ladner and $16 million to the KinVillage Association to build 160 homes for seniors in Tsawwassen.
“This is massive for Delta. I’m so pleased,” said Delta North NDP MLA Ravi Khalon. “This is not specifically North (Delta), but Delta is Delta and I think this is great news for all our community as a whole. It has been over a decade since any investments have been made in housing in Delta. It’s a very good day for us.”
Besides Delta, 41 other communities across the province will receive funding for the construction of 4,900 mixed-income rental units.
Each of the new rental buildings created under the program will include a mix of homes for varying income levels. This will include “deeply subsidized” rentals for seniors and those on fixed incomes, affordable rentals for low- to moderate-income workers such as those in the service industries, and affordable rentals for middle-income earners.
The homes will be built under the provincial government’s $1.9 billion Community Housing Fund, which aims to build a total of 14,000 affordable rental homes over 10 years.
This initial set of affordable rental projects, which has already gone through a request-for-proposals process, will be built by non-profit housing and co-ops over the next two to three years, according to the province. The 4,900 homes will cost the province around $492 million of its $1.9 billion fund.
In recent weeks the Optimist has written about the plight of several tenants at the Ladner Willows housing complex whose units have been deemed unsafe due to rampant mold issues. Ladner Willows is operated by Red Door Housing Society.
Khalon said he suspects the specifics around the Red Door Housing Society money announced Tuesday will come out shortly.
“So they [Red Door Housing] could tear it down and build something new. I know there are tenants that are looking for a place to go before and that they don’t want to leave Ladner,” he said. “I don’t have the specifics on what the plans will be, but more details will come out on what that will look like.”
BC Housing and Red Door Housing did not respond to requests for comment for updates to the mold remediation work, or Red Door Housing’s plans for Ladner Willows.
Delta South Liberal MLA Ian Paton has been advocating on behalf of several residents at Ladner Willows. He said Red Door Housing and government should use the funds immediately to remediate the units at Ladner Willows.
“Ladner Willows was only built in 1988, so I certainly don’t see why 17 units should be boarded up with plywood when so many people are looking for low-income housing,” said Paton. “Make use of that money right now and get some construction people to remediate the issues of mold, plumbing, etc., tidy the place up and get people in it. Government needs to spend money right now and help these people.”
Paton also wonders with the availability of land in South Delta where Red Door will build 146 units.
“When I was on council we were involved with KinVillage for a number of years, so funding for that does not surprise me, but the NDP are talking about 54 units at a place called Affordable Housing Society and then the number for Red Door. Where are they going to build? Will they tear down Ladner Willows? I have no idea where this would go.
“But in saying that, all of the money is going towards my riding, so anytime we get increased provincial dollars for rental housing units in Ladner/Tsawwassen you can’t complain about that.”
- With files from Joannah Connolly/Glacier Media Real Estate
