Non-profit housing plays a crucial role in ensuring that everyone has access to a safe and affordable place to live, especially for those who struggle to enter the private market.
At Housing Squamish, our focus is on Community Housing, which means providing housing options at below-market rents.
There are many different types of community housing. This includes investing in new, purpose-built housing developments for households’ earners who can’t afford market rents, as well as buying and actively managing existing rental units in the community, such as Tantalus Manor on Wilson Crescent, to ensure they remain affordable and under the control of the community and are not lost to market developments.
What does “affordable” mean?
Rents in an affordable housing property can vary depending on the property or nature of the unit. In some cases, rents are set based on a person’s income (rent “geared to income”). Some units are deeply subsidized for individuals on income assistance or with very low incomes. In other cases, units are priced at fixed below market rates for all tenants.
In most cases, how we set rents is determined by the requirements of our funding partners such as BC Housing, CMHC, or the BC Rental Protection Fund. Rents are also set to ensure that revenue from our properties can cover the basic costs of running the buildings.
Ultimately, our goal is to provide a variety of housing options that help people attain and maintain secure housing.
Did you know? According to the OECD’s Affordable Housing Database, only 3.5 % of Canada’s total housing stock is community housing, well below the OECD average of 7%. Let’s work together to change that!