CRD Memo Re: Developer Contributions to Regional Housing Trust Fund
Informational memo from the CRD explaining the operation and guidelines of the Regional Housing Trust Fund.
Memo
TO: Lindsay Chase, Director of Development Services, Town of View Royal FROM: John Reilly, Manager, Housing Planning and Programs CC: Christine Culham, Senior Manager, Regional Housing DATE: January 31, 2017 SUBJECT: Developer Contributions to Regional Housing Trust Fund
As follow-up to our telephone discussion of January 24, 2017, I am providing information regarding the Regional Housing Trust Fund (RHTF) in order to assist the Town of View Royal in assessing a proposed developer-initiated contribution to the RHTF as part of a rezoning application that includes the redevelopment of purpose built rental properties in the Christie Point area.
The Housing Trust Fund is a key implementation initiative of the Regional Housing Affordability Strategy. The Fund was established by the CRD Board in 2005, in recognition that housing affordability is a regional priority and key issue in the Capital Region.
The Fund provides capital grants for “bricks and mortar” in the acquisition, development and retention of housing that is affordable to households with low or moderate incomes in the Capital Region. For the period 2017-2019, the Regional Housing Trust Fund Commission prioritized the use of RHTF grants for the development of affordable housing units within approved Regional Housing First Program (RHFP) projects.
As a founding member of the RHTF, the Town of View Royal has participated in the program since 2006 and has contributed a total of $296,558 to the fund. This represents approximately 3% of the $10.8 million raised through the program since its inception. To date, the RHTF has supported projects in Esquimalt, Saanich, Salt Spring Island, Sidney, Sooke and Victoria.
The current Bylaw allows the CRD to receive financial contributions to the RHTF from corporations. A corporation may contribute funds directly to the CRD or to the municipality in which the development application is being processed with the understanding that the municipality would pass the contribution on to the CRD.
Any contribution would be placed in the reserve fund managed by the CRD to support the RHTF Program. Disbursement of the funds would be subject to the operating principles of the CRD, the bylaws associated with the service as well as funding priorities established, from time to time, by the RHTF Commission. This means that the contribution amount could be used to support projects in any of the municipalities or electoral districts participating in the RHTF service.
The RHTF currently allows an applicant to access up to $15,000 per unit in grants to support the development of affordable rental housing units in the region. Over the past ten years these funds have been used to create 875 units of affordable housing. In all cases, the projects funded through the RHTF have leveraged funding through other government programs, municipal housing funds and the charitable sector. The average per unit grant over the ten year operation of the RHTF is $12,342. The RHTF uses BC Housing’s Housing Income Limits (HIL) as the measure of low income and the region’s median household income (approximately $67,000 per annum in 2015) as measure of moderate income within the region. Table 1 provides a summary of the HILs for Victoria in 2016.
Table 1 – 2016 Housing Income Limits – Victoria (BC Housing)
| Unit Size | Studio | One Bedroom | Two Bedroom | Three Bedroom | Four Bedroom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Limit | $30,500 | $35,500 | $46,000 | $64,000 | $71,500 |
Where possible, the CRD works with applicants to achieve rents lower than these amounts. Recently, applicants have expressed concern that the current maximum per-unit amount available through the RHTF is becoming insufficient to achieve rents lower than the maximums allowable under the program.
Should the CRD receive a $1 million one-time contribution to the fund, and assuming the CRD can leverage other funding into projects, this amount could fund a minimum of 67 units at the HIL rates or moderate household income levels.
I hope this information is helpful to you in advising your Council with respect to the operation of the CRD’s Regional Housing Trust Fund. Should you be interested in discussing this further, please do not hesitate to contact me.