Saint John Growth Committee Talks Affordable Housing
SAINT JOHN- Saint John’s growth committee heard a presentation Tuesday on affordable housing availability in the city.
Urban planner Ken Melanson made the presentation and discussed the various types of housing available throughout the city.
Melanson cited the Canada Mortage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) definition of affordable housing, which states any rental or ownership opportunity which costs less than 30 per cent of a household’s pre-tax income is considered affordable.
He said the city’s rental market struggles with a near-zero vacancy rate, as well as long wait-lists to access affordable housing.
In total, more than 1,500 residents are waiting to access affordable housing, with wait times between 15 and 25 months.
Despite the difficulty in finding accessible rental units, a Demographia survey found that Saint John tied with Fredericton for the second most affordable housing market in Canada, and the sixth most affordable city in the world.
Melanson said that the average home prices in the city are below $200,000, while average rents are just below $800 per month. He says those numbers have remained stable for the past few years.
“The uptown core, where the greatest concern for gentrification has been expressed, has remained in the same narrow range with small changes year over year, but has not increased drastically,” said Melanson.
Members of the growth committee, including Mayor Don Darling, said it’s important to continue to push for more affordable housing options in the uptown. Darling cited his experience working on affordable housing projects during his time in the construction industry as his favourite projects to work on.
Councillor John MacKenzie also emphasized the need to keep the city’s homeless population in their plans as they move forward on looking for affordable housing options.
He says it’s imperative they keep having these conversations.
“We talk about an ongoing conversation, I’d like every growth committee meeting to have an update on how we’re doing with homelessness and affordable housing.”
Ben Burnett is a reporter with Country 94/97.3 The Wave, a Huddle content partner.